Earliest meeting: Friday 15th February 1884
Final meeting: Friday 17th August 1900
The county Sligo fishing village of Easky lies on the Atlantic coast 26 miles from Sligo and 15 miles from Ballina. In the late 19th century the village staged a number of race meetings, one of the earliest being on Friday 15th February 1884. The picturesque course, two miles from Easky, was largely attended by the country folk of the neighbourhood, the card opening with the feature race, the Tiereragh Handicap which was won by the 2/1 joint favourite Safe House owned by Mr J Hinds. The second race, the Shore Plate, was restricted to horses owned by working farmers and resulted in a win by Mr P Gordon’s Prince Charlie who easily defeated Miss Boycott and Greek Fire. The concluding Enniscrons Plate over two and a half miles proved one race too many for even money favourite Prince Charlie who flopped into third place behind Mr Francis Knox’s Prince. Meetings continued intermittently for the next sixteen years until a final card took place on Friday 17th August 1900, when the Easky Challenge Cup went to Bal Austa; the Sligo Plate to Daisy’s Joy and the Tiereragh Handicap Plate to Mr J P Egan’s Cinabob. |
| This racecourse is covered in Volume 4 of Racecourses Here Today and Gone Tomorrow. Ordering details shown below. |
| Local Patrons |
Mr J P Egan, Mr J R Nally, Mr P W Connolly |
| Principal Races |
Sligo Plate, Tireragh Handicap Plate, Easkey Challenge Cup |
Friday 17th August 1900 |
The Sligo Plate over 2 miles
1. Daisy’s Joy owned by Mr J R Nally
2. Crutches owned by Mr P McConville
The Tireragh Handicap Plate over a mile
1. Cinabob owned by Mr J P Egan
2. Pleasure-Seeker owned by Mr J R Nally
3. Miss Baker owned by Mr H L Fitzpatrick
The Easkey Challenge Cup over 7 furlongs
1. Bal Austa owned by Mr P W Connolly
2. Cinabob owned by Mr J P Egan
3. Alfio owned by Mr J H Ormsby |
| The final meeting took place on Friday 17th August 1900 with race details shown above. |
| Course today |
A picturesque course two miles from Easky. |
| If you have photos, postcards, racecards. badges, newspaper cuttings or book references about the old course, or can provide a photo of how the ground on which the old racecourse stood looks today, then email johnwslusar@gmail.com |
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 |
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ISBN 978-0-9957632-0-3
652 pages
774 former courses |
ISBN 978-0-9957632-1-0
352 pages
400 former courses |
ISBN 978-0-9957632-2-7
180 pages
140 former courses |
ISBN 978-0-9957632-3-4
264 pages
235 former courses |
| Copies of the above books are only available by emailing johnwslusar@gmail.com stating your requirements, method of payment (cheque payable to W.Slusar) or Bank transfer, and the address where the book(s) should be sent. |
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