Earliest meeting: Monday 20th October 1794
Final meeting: Thursday 12th July 1900
The Irish racecourse at the coastal seaside town of Dungarvan, the County town of Waterford, was certainly staging King’s Plate races as early as 1794 when a meeting took place from Monday 20th to Saturday 25th October 1794. On the opening day the Dungarvan Handicap over 3 miles was won by Honest Ned for Mr Lewis, beating Lightning, while later in the week the 4 mile Hunters’ Stakes went to Goldfinder who got the better of Spott. That same meeting concluded with a two mile Hunters Stakes which went to Mr R T Carew’s Honesty. Racing continued on a very regular basis for over a century, with the management adaptable to change if change was needed to maintain support for the meetings. Initially a course a mile and a half from town was used, although a later Private Match in April 1837 was contested on The Strand, while a Steeplechase meeting was held in November 1869. Even one of the final meetings held under rules in 1900 had widespread appeal, offering a mixed card of 7 hurdle and 3 flat races spread over 2 days on Wednesday 11th and Thursday 12th July 1900. Point to point racing still continues at the present time on a course in the vicinity of the town at Kilossera.
In 1794 The Irish Racing Calendar was published by its proprietor P. Sharkey. It contained an Account of the Plates, Matches and Sweepstakes run for in Ireland from the April Meeting 1794. An extract of this is shown below.
Monday 20th to Saturday 25th October 1794
Dungarvan Purse over 4 miles
1. Honest Ned owned by Mr Lewis
2. Quickstep owned by Mr Parker
3. Amphibious owned by Mr Devonshire
Dungarvan Hunters Stakes over 4 miles
1. Goldfinder owned by Mr Harris
2. Spott owned by Mr Butler
Dungarvan 2 miles Hunters Stakes
1. Honesty owned by Mr R T Carew
2. Unnamed mare owned by Mr R Power
3. Lord Howe owned by Mr B Drew
Much of the information about this course has been found using internet research and is in the public domain. However, useful research sources have been:-
London Illustrated News
Racing Illustrated 1895-1899
The Sporting & Dramatic Illustrated
Northern Turf History Volumes 1-4 by J.Fairfax-Blakeborough
The Sporting Magazine
A Long Time Gone by Chris Pitt first published in 1996 ISBN 0 900599 89 8
Racing Calendars which were first published in 1727
