Earliest Meeting: Wednesday 18th October 1721
Final Meeting: Thursday 19th October 1721
The Rutland county town of Oakham is situated about 25 miles east of Leicester and 28 miles south-east of Nottingham. It enjoys beautiful countryside and is to the west of the large, man-made lake of Rutland Water. In about 1180 a Norman Castle was built in the town and, although there is still some evidence of the inner bailey of the castle, only the great hall remains. It has been a tradition of the town for over 500 years that when members of the Royal Family or other dignitaries visit the town they donate a horseshoe as a forfeit. Over 200 of the horseshoes are displayed in or near the great hall, the earliest being from 1470 when King Edward IV visited Oakham. Therefore it seems appropriate that Oakham held its own race meeting in the early part of the 18th century. The Stamford Mercury advertised the meeting on Thursday 12th October 1721 and an extract from the newspaper is shown below. The 2 day meeting opened on Wednesday 18th October 1721 and ran to a second day on Thursday 19th October. Although the newspaper advertised the meeting, it did not follow up by reporting the results from the meeting.
The newspaper extract below is shown courtesy of the Stamford Mercury and British Library Online.
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
