Earliest meeting: 1832 Two day meeting on St Aubin Sands
Final meeting: Racing continues to be staged at Les Landes
The first recorded races in Jersey were in 1832 when a 2 day meeting was noted to have taken place on the sand at St Aubin. Since that early meeting races have flourished at various locations including Greve d'Azette (1836), Gorey Common (1843), Les Quennevais (1906) and Les Landes (from 1961). The Principal race in the early days was the King's Cup, a trophy given by King George IV. The meeting at the turn of the century was a particulary valuable and well supported one held on Wednesday 25th July 1900. The card included the Railway Stakes and Jersey Town Plate, both won by Oxford Belle, the Island Clubs Handicap won by Poltroon, and the principal race, Her Majesty’s Cup over 2 miles, won by Sir James. From 1906 until 1961 meetings took place at Les Quennevais, but the present day course is at Les Landes which can be found in St Ouen next to the ruins of Grosnez Castle.
Wednesday 25th July 1900
The Railway Stakes over 2 miles
1. Oxford Belle owned by Mr E Single
2. Skiddaw owned by Mr T H Bushby
The Island Clubs Handicap Race over 2 miles
1. Poltroon owned by Mr W Goddard
2. Oxford Belle owned by Mr E Single
Her Majesty’s Cup over 2 miles
1. Sir James owned by Mr J E Martin
2. Rover owned by Mr P Quenalt
3. Jersey Swell owned by Mr C Le Sueur
The Jersey Town Plate over 1 ½ miles
1. Oxford Belle owned by Mr E Single
2. Skiddaw owned by Mr T H Bushby
3. Royal Phil owned by Mr J H Venn
Race meetings are organised by Jersey Race Club with meetings being held every Bank Holiday. The Principal race now is the Jersey Derby which is the second leg of the Channel Islands Triple Crown.
I am grateful to John Hodges for the map showing Quennevais Racecourse which operated from 1906 onwards.
Grateful to Stephen McCurrie for the scan of the racecard
I am grateful to Vinny Hinde for the rare Hunt Club badge shown below:-
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
