Earliest meeting: Wednesday 31st March 1847
Final meeting: Wednesday 31st March 1847
Today Kingston Vale is an area of the Royal London Borough of Kingston upon Thames which is blessed with large parks, notably Richmond Park and Wimbledon Common, but in the 1860s it was called Kingston Bottom. The Robin Hood Inn at Kingston Bottom, built in considerable grounds, was used to stage a race meeting on Wednesday 31st March 1847. The course extended to 1 ¾ miles over grassland owned by Mr Turner and the meeting opened with the Hunters Cup over 2 miles won by Grace Darling, owned by Mr D Edwards, beating Pathfinder and Tickle-my-fancy. The card also included a Hack Race and the Kingston Hurdle. Although meetings of an inferior quality did take place annually afterwards, this was the only meeting deemed worthy of having results recorded. |
| This racecourse is covered in Volume 2 of Racecourses Here Today and Gone Tomorrow. Ordering details shown below. |
| Local Patrons |
Mr Turner & Mr Patterson (Stewards) |
| Principal Races |
Kingston Hurdle, Hack Stakes, Hunters Cup |
Wednesday 31st March 1847
Kingston Hurdle over 3 ½ miles and 8 hurdles
1. Charley Boy, aged horse owned by Mr Hill
2. Waterloo, aged horse owned by Mr Irwin
3. The Queen, aged mare owned by Mr Cross |
| The final meeting took place on Wednesday 31st March 1847. |
| Course today |
A 1 ¾ mile course on grassland to the rear of the Robin Hood Inn. |
| 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 johnslusar@fsmail.net |
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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