Earliest meeting: Tuesday 8th August 1732
Final meeting: Sunday 16th December 2012
Restarted: October 2016
The Herefordshire county cathedral city of Hereford, on the River Wye, is 16 miles east of the border with Wales and 24 miles south west of Worcester. The earliest record of a race meeting in the City of Hereford was a 3-day meeting starting on Tuesday 8th August 1732 when Mr Herbert's Smiling Tom landed the 40 Guineas Purse beating 3 others, with full detail of the meeting shown below. However, the first Herefordshire Hunt meeting to take place in the vicinity of the city was on Tuesday 27th August 1771, and racing continued thereafter on a regular basis. In 1793 a disruptive, disapproving crowd brought down the horse Edwin, his owner vowing never to return to the course. It was almost fifty years before the first hurdle race was staged in 1840, but on Thursday 12th February 1846 the course hosted the Grand Annual Steeplechase which saw Brunette beat Crackaman. Hereford reached new heights in 1857 when it hosted a Royal Plate for the only time in its history which was won by Fisherman, a remarkable horse which contested 35 races during its lifetime, winning 22 of them. In 1883 the final flat race meeting took place at the course, but National Hunt racing continued to operate successfully, although racing ceased for the majority of both World Wars. However, a meeting did take place on Easter Monday 25th March 1940 when the management proudly boasted 190 entries. Racing resumed in 1946 when a company was formed to take over the administration of the races from the Council. Although races were not always of the highest quality, they often made up for it in quantity, staging highly competitive races. Never was this truer than at one meeting in 1975 when so many runners were declared that races had to be divided into divisions which led to a 14 race programme. The course relied on a loyal crowd of supporters, although they famously did not issue annual Members badges until 2001. Attendances started to decline in the early part of the 21st century, although a new era dawned in 2008 when a joint membership was offered with Chepstow in an attempt to boost crowds. The lease was held by the Herefordshire Council Arena Racing Company and the course was closed in 2012, with a final meeting staged on Sunday 16th December 2012. However, after a four-year spell without racing, racing returned in October 2016.
Tuesday 8th August 1732
Hereford 40 Guineas Purse
1. SMILING TOM, chestnut horse owned by Mr Herbert 1 1
2. DUSTY MILLER, dun horse owned by Mr Simon 3 2
3. ROGER, chestnut horse owned by Mr Dadly 2 wdr
4. PRINCE OF WALES, chestnut horse owned by Mr Cornwall dist
4 ran
Wednesday 9th August 1732
Hereford 20 Guineas Galloway Purse
1. WANTON WILLY, bay gelding owned by Mr Mansel 1 1
2. OLD CYDER, brown horse owned by Mr Goodyer 2 2
3. INFANT, bay horse owned by Sir Herbert Packington dist
3 ran
Friday 11th August 1732
Honorary Whip presented by Mr Cornwall, and 20 Guineas Purse
1. UNNAMED bay mare owned by Mr Herbert
2. UNNAMED brown mare owned by Mr Burton
2 ran
Thursday 12th February 1846
Grand Annual Steeplechase over 3 miles
1. Brunette, brown mare owned by Mr Preston
2. Crackaman, aged horse owned by Mr H N Powell
3. Little Tommy, aged horse owned by Mr W Vevers
4. Hankey Pankey, aged horse owned by Mr T Westley
The very rare race ticket, shown above, allowed entry to Hereford Races in 1867. The Stewards at this time were His Grace the Duke of Hamilton, Rt Hon Lord Bateman, Colonel A Meyrick and Captain Machell. The main two day meeting was held on Thursday 17th and Friday 18th October 1867, with the principal races being the Herefordshire Stakes on the first day and the Shobdon Cup on the second day.
Thursday 17th October 1867
HEREFORDSHIRE STAKES (100 sovs) over 1 ½ miles
1. MOOSE (5/2) owned by Mr Brayley and ridden by Clement
2. MOULSEY (100/30) owned by Lord Bateman and ridden by Grimshaw
3. NIDDERDALE (20/1) owned by Mr G Price and ridden by Peppler
4. PEARL DIVER (20/1) owned by Mr Brayley and ridden by Harrison
9 ran
Friday 18th October 1867
SHOBDON CUP (200 sovs) over 1 ¾ miles
1. NIDDERDALE (100/6) owned by Mr Parr and ridden by Peppler
2. ARABIA (8/1) owned by Mr Rice and ridden by Jeffery
3. DUET (20/1) owned by Mr Treen and ridden by J Clark
7 ran
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
