Earliest meeting: Tuesday 21st October 1760
Final meeting: Tuesday 24th June 1879
Records show a meeting took place as early as 1760 on Bartley Heath, just south of Hook, in the Hampshire village of Odiham, close to the historic Odiham Castle. The 2 day meeting started on Tuesday 21st October with a Purse for 4 year olds which was won by Lord Craven’s Heart of Oak. The following day a 6 year old Purse saw Grey Beard beat Adelphus and Trifle. The meetings at that venue lasted for a few more years, with a 2 day meeting on Tuesday 19th and Wednesday 20th October 1762 at which the Purse went to Mr Beckford’s Cupid and the Handicap to Mr Quick’s Charlotte. The final two-day meeting of this first period of racing, when results were recorded in Baily's Racing Register, was on 25th and 26th September 1776, just a couple of days after the inaugural St Leger Stakes was run at Doncaster. The racecourse was probably used after this for Pony races, which were certainly being staged from the 1820s to the 1840s, after which mixed cards involving thoroughbreds began being reintroduced. There was a further prolonged period of racing beginning in 1848 and lasting almost continuously until 1879. The great Fred Archer frequently rode at Odiham despite the prize money being small. Often the winner got the saddle, the second the whip and the third the spurs. In the 1880s the Jockey Club introduced a rule for the minimum prize money at a meeting to be £300 and at least one race to be worth at least £150 run over up to a mile. This sounded the death knell for many smaller meetings including Odiham. The final meeting took place on Tuesday 24th June 1879.
Lord Craven, Lord Baltimore
Tuesday 21st October 1760
Odiham £50 Purse for 4 year old and upwards
1. Heart of Oak, 5 year old dun horse owned by Lord Craven 5 1 1
2. Madam, 5 year old bay mare owned by Lord Portmore 1 3 2
3. Young Starling, 5 year old grey horse owned by Mr Duggin 2 4 3
4. Philosopher, 5 year old bay horse owned by the Duke of Richmond 4 2 dr
5. Harlequin, 4 year old brown colt owned by Mr Wildman 3 dnf
Wednesday 22nd October 1760
Odiham £50 Purse for 6 year olds and upwards
1. Grey Beard, 6 year old grey horse owned by Mr Tate 3 1 1
2. Adelphus, aged roan horse owned by Mr Jones 1 4 2
3. Trifle, aged bay horse owned by Mr Elliot 4 3 3
4. Standyby, 6 year old chestnut horse owned by Mr Adams 5 5 4
5. Ill-Bred, 6 year old grey horse owned by Mr Stamford 2 2 5
Tuesday 27th October 1761
Odiham £50 2 mile 5 year old Purse
1. Brown Betty, brown mare owned by Mr Rogers 5 2 1 1
2. Whimsey, chestnut mare owned by Sir S Stewart 1 3 2 2
3. Harmony, grey horse owned by Lord Baltimore 3 1 3 3
4. Pegasus, grey mare owned by Lord Northumberland 2 dr
5. Dimple, bay horse owned by Mr Willey 4 dr
Wednesday 28th October 1761
Odiham £50 Purse for 6 year olds and upwards
1. Madam, 6 year old bay mare owned by Lord Portmore 1 1
2. Misinissa, 6 year old chestnut horse owned by Mr Churchill 6 2
3. Harry Long Legs, aged chestnut horse owned by Mr Grevill 5 3
4. Looby, 6 year old brown horse owned by Mr Rogers 4 4
5. Heart of Oak, aged chestnut horse owned by Mr Aye 2 dnf
6. Sally, 6 year old grey mare owned by Mr Prince 3 dr
7. Slut, aged bay mare owned by Mr Bignall dnf
8. Mickleham, 6 year old chestnut horse owned by Mr Wildman (fell sick)
Tuesday 19th & Wednesday 20th October 1762
Odiham 2 mile Purse
1. Cupid owned by Mr Beckford
2. Croney owned by Mr Quick
3. Badger owned by Mr Rogers
Odiham 2 mile Weight for Age Handicap
1. Charlotte owned by Mr Quick
2. Americus owned by Mr Aldridge
3. Valiant owned by Lord Craven
Tuesday 17th October 1763
Odiham 3 mile Weight for Age Handicap for 4 year olds and upwards
1. General, 4 year old chestnut mare owned by Mr Quick 1 1
2. Unnamed 4 year old chestnut horse owned by Mr Douglas 2 2
3. Slouch, 5 year old roan horse owned by Mr Stroud 3 3
Wednesday 18th October 1763
Odiham £50 Weight for Age Handicap
1. Sportsman, aged bay horse owned by Mr Lenton 4 1 1
2. Mark, 6 year old brown horse owned by Mr Stroud 6 2 2
3. Salt Cat, aged bay horse owned by Mr Bishop 5 4 4
After a lengthy break, formal racing returned in the late 1840s, although only for a single day of racing rather than 2 day meetings.
Friday 14th July 1848
Odiham Town Stakes over 1 ½ miles
1. Daughter of the Star owned by Mr S Scott 4 1 1
2. Mundig owned by Mr Simmonds 1 4 4
3. Urania owned by Mr Death 3 2 2
4. Prospect owned by Mr Cassall 2 3 3
5. Huntsman owned by Mr C J Sadler 5 5 5
The Bartley Heath Stakes of 2 sovereigns each
1. Bohemienne owned by Mr Cassall 1 1
2. Priory Stag owned by Mr Denyer 4 2
3. Scarlet-Runner owned by Mr Judd 6 3
Odiham Selling Sweepstakes (winner to be sold for £30)
1. Bohemienne owned by Mr Cassall 1 3 1
2. Viper owned by Mr C J Sadler 2 2 2
3. Red Doe owned by Mr Hearn 4 1 dis
Friday 13th July 1855
The Odiham Handicap over 1 ½ miles
1. Brinklow owned by Mr Longman
2. Postulant owned by Mr J Hewitt
3. Noisette owned by Mr Gulliver
The Odiham Stewards Stakes over 1 ¼ miles
1. Folly o’ the Day owned by Mr C Fromby
2. Penelope owned by Mr G Reilly
3. Reuben Martin owned by Mr GFennely
The Odiham Manor Handicap Stakes over a mile
1. Vulcan owned by Mr G Drewe
2. Postulant owned by Mr J Hewitt
3. Speed the Plough owned by Mr H Browne
The principal races at the meeting held on Tuesday 1st July 1862 were the Hurstbourne Stakes and Manor Plate.
Hurstbourne Stakes over 4 furlongs
1. BOUTEFEU (6/4 fav) owned by M Lupin and ridden by Sharpe
2.MISS EDMONDSON (10/1) owned by Mr T Stevens and ridden by Page
Manor Handicap Plate over 6 furlongs
1. TRUE BLUE (4/1) owned by Mr John Day and ridden by Deakin
2. PERU (10/1) owned by Mr T Goddard and ridden by Nightingall
The card for the final meeting on Tuesday 24th June 1879 consisted of the following races:-
Hurstbourne Welter Handicap over a mile in which Mr K H Robert’s Mr Pona finished 4th;
South Western Railway Plate over 5 furlongs;
Dogmersfield Park Plate over the straight mile;
Manor Plate over 5 furlongs;
Odiham Open Hunters Plate over 2 mile flat;
The concluding race, the Odiham Handicap, was declared void.
I am grateful to Jon Seddon for providing a map of the racecourse, Grid Reference SU726530, from the late 1800's. It is subject to Crown Copyright.
On Bartley Heath close to Odiham Castle.
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
