Earliest meeting: Wednesday 6th September 1732
Final meeting: Monday 3rd July 1882
The busy Northamptonshire town of Kettering lies on the River Isle and has a rich history. In the 10th century the town was known as Cytringan, meaning the place of the Ketter’s folk. The first report of racing in the town was in John Cheny's Historical Races on Wednesday 6th September 1732, while in 1735 the Stamford Mercury provided the results of a two day meeting on Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th September on a new course marked out on Kettering Common. The first race that day was for a £7 Plate. Springing forward a century, the Kettering Yeomanry meetings were staged at a range of courses within the vicinity of Kettering from 1839 to 1869 and are covered separately. A prolonged period of racing in the town, coinciding with Feast Week, began in July 1875 and was staged annually for 7 years. A new course was used for the two day meeting on Monday 2nd and Tuesday 3rd July 1877 when the opening Tradesmen’s Plate saw Ma Chere beat Catman and Whittlebury. The feature race was the Kettering Stewards Cup which provided Whittlebury with an opportunity to gain his revenge. The final meeting took place on Monday 3rd July 1882. |
| This racecourse is covered in Volume 1 of Racecourses Here Today and Gone Tomorrow. Ordering details shown below. |
| Local Patrons |
Mr H S B Preedy & Mr J Robinson (Stewards) |
| Principal Races |
Kettering Stewards Cup, Town Plate, Tradesmen’s Plate |
Wednesday 6th September 1732
Kettering 15 Guineas Plate
1. BLACK JOKE, chestnut gelding owned by Mr Chapman 1 1 2
2. WIVES FANCY, grey gelding owned by Mr Rugen 3 3 1
3. MISFORTUNE, chestnut mare owned by Mr Richards 4 2 dist
4. UNNAMED brown mare owned by Mr Turner 5 4
5. BRANSDEN GREY, grey horse owned by Mr Hewit 2 wdr
5 ran |
Monday 2nd July 1877
Kettering Stewards Cup over 2 ½ miles and 10 flights
1. Whittlebury, aged horse owned by Captain C Higgins
2. Stanley, aged horse owned by Mr J Hitchman
3. Charles, aged horse owned by Mr T Pegg |
The final meeting took place on Monday 3rd July 1882. |
| Course today |
Initially on the Common and then latterly on a new course on the outskirts of the town. |
| 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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