Earliest meeting: Thursday 13th October 1881
Final meeting: Thursday 13th October 1881
The busy Welsh coastal town of Milford Haven is in Pembrokeshire, its name meaning ‘at the mouth of two rivers’. Whilst the town was important as a port in the Middle Ages, it gained greater significance in 1790, and was intended to be a whaling centre by the local Sir William Hamilton. Later it became a Royal navy dockyard and remains important today. Back in the late 1800s it held its own race meeting, although the sole meeting was held on Thursday 13th October 1881. The course was at Tierson Farm and the chief steward was the local MP Mr H Allen. A large concourse of people gathered to witness the first meeting in the town, as much for the novelty of the occasion as the quality of the racing. The card opened with the County Plate in which Mr W James’s Lady Mary beat Blackbird. The Town Plate followed and went to Mr Frank Thomas’s Lady Lawson, defeating Sportsman, while the Ladies Plate saw Mr Lort Phillips’s Charlie get the better of Songster. Despite the obvious success of the meeting, there is no indication it was repeated.. |
| This racecourse is covered in Volume 3 of Racecourses Here Today and Gone Tomorrow. Ordering details shown below. |
| Local Patrons |
Mr H Allen MP, Colonel Warburton, Mr Mitchell (Stewards) |
| Principal Races |
Milford Docks Plate, Milford Town Plate, The County Plate |
Thursday 13th October 1881
Milford Docks Plate
1. Lady Mary, aged mare owned by Mr W James
2. Sportsman, aged horse owned by Mr W H Lewis
3. Charlie, aged mare owned by Mr Lort Phillips |
| The final meeting took place on Thursday 13th October 1881. |
| Course today |
At Tierson Farm, Steynton on the outskirts of Milford Haven. |
| 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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