Earliest meeting: Monday 20th April 1835
Final meeting: Friday 21st November 1873
The first meeting to take place at the Warwickshire town of Leamington, near to Coventry, was on Monday 20th April 1835. Although the meeting included a pony race, it opened with the Leamington Stakes which was won by Captain Mitchell’s Fanny over All Pipes. Meetings then took place annually for the next 28 years with the highlight being the Leamington Steeplechase which was won by Jerry in 1836 when ridden by the famous jockey Jem Mason. In 1845 the course was developed to ensure that the 1 ½ mile circuit had sound, classic turf and the most modern grandstand in the country. In the 1850s the meeting was known as the Warwick and Leamington Steeplechases. The final meeting took place on Friday 21st November 1873, although after this date racing did take place at Campion Hill, but the meetings were billed as ‘North Warwickshire’. A last meeting was held on Tuesday 21st March 1911 when it was actually relabelled as Leamington.

Lord Waterford, Captain Lamb, Captain Becher, Lord Macdonald

Monday 14th March 1836

Leamington Steeplechase over 4 miles
1. Jerry owned by Mr Anderson and ridden by Jem Mason
2. Vivian owned by Captain Lamb and ridden by Captain Becher
3. Flacrow owned by Mr Coke and ridden by Mr Haycock

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