Earliest meeting: Monday 24th May 1773
Final meeting: Thursday 21st August 1924
The County Cork town of Mallow, in the barony of Fermoy, is located 22 miles north of Cork. The first reported festival of racing took place from Monday 24th to Saturday 30th May 1773, opening with a two mile race for 4 year olds which was won by Mr Wrixon’s Darius. After a further three days of excellent racing the Gentlemen’s Subscription race was keenly contested and fell to Lord Barrymore’s Careless, seeing off the determined challenge of Rattler. Races continued to be well supported for the next 150 years, often with a number of meetings annually. In the middle of the 19th century the Munster Grand National Steeplechase was a popular addition to Mallow races. In the early 1920s the course was under financial pressure, particularly as the management felt they were not getting as fair a deal as some Dublin courses from the Irish Turf Club who assigned fixtures, and dealt with the problem by combining with neighbouring Cork. The Cork Mallow racecourse, which still operates today, first opened in 1924 and was hailed as a magnificent course bounded on two sides by the Blackwater River, with superb racing ground much appreciated by trainers. Whilst it is difficult to define when ‘Mallow’ ceased and ‘Cork/Mallow’ began, an important meeting was staged on Thursday 21st August 1924 when the Cork Plate was won by Too Richy, the Fermoy Plate by Maynooth and the prestigious Tailteann Gold Cup by Churchtown. The jointly run meeting continued to be known as Mallow until a final card on 5th October 1994, after which the meetings became known as Cork/Mallow. |
| This racecourse is covered in Volume 4 of Racecourses Here Today and Gone Tomorrow. Ordering details shown below. |
| Local Patrons |
Lord Clanwilliams, Sir Robert Deane, Colonel Quin, Dr O'Neil, Captain Dyson |
| Principal Races |
Sir Robert Deane Whim Plate, Mallow Freeholder's Plate, Corinthians Plate |
Friday 28th May 1773
Mallow Gentlemen’s Subscription over 4 miles
1. Careless, bay gelding owned by Lord Barrymore
2. Rattler, bay gelding owned by Mr Freeman
3. Steady, bay gelding owned by Mr Shadwell
4. Cyrus, bay gelding owned by Sir Robert Deane |
Monday 26th June 1775 |
Mallow 4 year old Purse over 2 miles
1. Carlos, black colt owned by Lord Clanwilliams
2. Wolf, grey horse owned by Mr W J Gun
3. Rosetta, bay mare owned by Colonel Quin |
Tuesday 27th June 1775 |
Mallow 5 year old Purse over 3 miles
1. Victorious, chestnut horse owned by Mr Ja. Hewson
2. Orion, bay horse owned by Mr W Lambert
3. Trinket, brown mare owned by Mr J Kirwan |
Wednesday 28th June 1775 |
Mallow 6 year old Purse over 4 miles
1. Irish Hero, bay horse owned by Lord Clanwilliams
2. Shepherdess, chestnut mare owned by Mr J Kirwan
3. Toy, bay horse owned by Colonel Quin |
Thursday 29th June 1775 |
The Sir Robert Deane Whim Plate over 4 miles
1. Guinea Pig, bay gelding owned by Lord Clanwilliams
2. Trinket, brown mare owned by Mr J Kirwan
3. Darius, bay horse owned by Mr R Bullin |
Friday 30th June 1775 |
Mallow Hunters Purse over 4 miles
1. Governor, brown horse owned by Mr J Fallon
2. Unnamed brown gelding owned by Mr Matthews
3. Rattler, bay gelding owned by Sir Robert Deane |
Saturday 1st July 1775 |
Weight for Age Purse over 4 miles
1. Hippolitus, bay gelding owned by Lord Clanwilliams
2. Jenny Jessamy, bay mare owned by Mr Ja. Hewson
3. Shepherdess, chestnut mare owned by Mr J Kirwan |
Monday 10th to Thursday 13th October 1836 |
Mallow 15 Sovereign Sweepstakes over 2 miles
1. Mirza owned by Mr Coghlan
2. Lorenzo owned by Mr Dennis
3. David owned by Dr O’Neil
Mirza and David went off the joint favourites, but it was Mirza who prevailed by ½ a length.
Mallow Freeholder’s Plate
1. Zero owned by Mr Dickson
2. Silverlocks owned by Mr Purcell
3. Sir Mark owned by Captain Dyson
Mallow Sweepstake over a mile and a half
1. Duckling owned by Mr Hunter
2. Lorenzo owned by Mr Dennis
Corinthians Plate over 2 miles
1. Dust owned by Mr McDonogh
2. Paulsgrove owned by Mr Dennis
3. Top owned by Mr Kelly |
The appeal of the turf and the accessibility to ordinary punters was improved significantly when the railway network was extended from Dublin to Mallow in 1849. |
| The final meeting took place on Thursday 21st August 1924. |
| Course today |
At a range of courses including Ballynamona. |
| 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 |
