Earliest meeting: Wednesday 1st May 1816
Final meeting: Friday 3rd May 1816
The village of Michel Grove is located near the much larger town of Arundel in West Sussex. The village is steeped in horse racing history for it was the site of the training establishment of John Day, a trainer of some repute. In 1853 he was joined by a man who was to become one of the most successful trainers in the history of the sport. That man was John Porter who was born in Rugeley in Staffordshire in 1838 and when he left school in 1852 he joined the racing stables of John Day. Well before John Day trained in Michel Grove the village held its own 3 day race meeting starting on Wednesday 1st May 1816. The meeting was the brainchild of Mr R R Walker, the master of the hounds. It might have been coincidental, but every race was either won by him or one of his relations. One of the races was for 100 Guineas, the gift of a gentleman for horses that had ‘taken seven tickets with his hounds’. The race was won by Omphale, owned by Mr Gilbert, but he was disqualified along with the second horse for not being able to produce the necessary certificates to show they were qualified to run. As a consequence Ippogriffo, owned by Mr R R Walker, was awarded the prize. |
| This racecourse is covered in Volume 2 of Racecourses Here Today and Gone Tomorrow. Ordering details shown below. |
| Local Patrons |
Mr R R Walker |
| Principal Races |
Michel Grove 100 Guineas Purse, Michel Grove 50 Guineas Purse |
Wednesday – Friday 1st to 3rd May 1816
The Mr R R Walker Benefit meeting
The following horses won at the meeting, all of which were owned by Mr R R Walker
Joanna Southrone, Omphale, Ippogriffo, Malcolm, Corsair |
| The final meeting took place on Friday 3rd May 1816. |
| Course today |
Over good hunting country across fields owned by Mr R R Walker |
| 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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