Earliest meeting: September 1866
Final meeting: Monday 10th May 1897
Hazelford Ferry was an important crossing point over the River Trent prior to 1875 and formed part of the link between Lincoln and Grimsby. The area has a rich history and had its own Saxon Court when King Edwin was on the throne in 627. In the latter part of the 19th century it was the site of a series of race meetings organised by the South Notts Hunt Group. The ‘History of Nottinghamshire’ recorded that the first meeting to take place in Hazelford Ferry was in September 1866. The village celebrated a ‘Racing Festival’ but did not continue it for the next year, and the next meeting to be recorded in the hamlet was on Monday 22nd September 1884. The course was laid out as a 6 furlong round course by Mr A Merryfield, ably assisted by Mr W J Ford from Nottingham, and a temporary viewing stand was built. This was later extended to become a permanent structure and the meeting became a very popular local meeting.  The very first Steeplechase was won by Beacon, owned by a generous sponsor of the meeting Lord Shrewsbury. The early programmes consisted of 6 races, but in later years this was extended to include a seventh race. Races were run under the Rules of National Hunt racing in May each year, with Stakes races ranging from 25 sovereigns to 50 sovereigns. One of the highlights of a number of the later meetings was a regular battle between Arron, owned by Mr Godson, and Clawson, owned by Mr Jolland. They were deemed to be equal in ability and any finish involving the pair was quite a spectacle. The final meeting was extremely well attended, showing the popularity of the venue, and took place on Monday 10th May 1897.

Lord Shrewsbury, Lord Harrington, Lord Savile, Captain Middleton, Sir James Duke

Monday 7th May 1894
Newark Handicap Hurdle over 2 miles
1. Luminous, 4 year old owned by Mr J A Catlin
2. Black Fir, 5 year old owned by Mr E Woodland
3. Fontainebleau, aged horse owned by Mr C Hibbert

The final meeting was extremely well attended, showing the popularity of the venue, and took place on Monday 10th May 1897.

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

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