Earliest meeting: Thursday 4th April 1878
Final meeting: Friday 19th April 1901
The West Lothian village of Uphall and the tiny hamlet of Oatridge lie close to the expanding town of Livingstone. They are located some 30 miles from Glasgow and 14 miles from Edinburgh in countryside which lends itself to hunting. The earliest record of hunting hounds in Linlithgow and Stirlingshire was in 1763 and these two places later merged with the East Lothian Hunt in 1869. It was to be a further 4 years before the group extended their interest beyond hunting and in to racing. The first National Hunt meeting organised by the Lothian Hunt was on Thursday 17th July 1873. Five years later the Linlithgow and Stirlingshire Hunt Committee organised their inaugural meeting on Thursday 4th April 1878. That meeting, a 7 race card, was held in the tiny hamlet of Oatridge. The meeting was deemed to be a success and further meetings continued annually. Meetings were confined to a single days racing a year, almost always in April, at Oatridge. Although the War in South Africa put paid to the 1900 meeting, a meeting did take place on Friday 19th April 1901, but it proved to be the last under rules. However, the Hunt group continued to host point to point meetings at Oatridge until 1987.

Linlithgow & Stirlingshire Open Hunt Steeplechase, Foxhunters Plate

Thursday 16th April 1896
Foxhunters Plate over 3 miles L8
1. Frontier, aged horse owned by Mr W Murray-Thriepland
2. Bloomfield, chestnut gelding owned by Mr Edward Clark
3. Chance, chestnut mare owned by Hon. L Elphinstone

The final meeting took place on Friday 19th April 1901.

Although racing under rules ceased in 1901, the Hunt group continued to host point to point meetings at Oatridge until 1987.

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