Earliest meeting: Friday 29th August 1902
Final meeting: Saturday 13th October 1990
Located in the townlands of Ashtown and Castlerock, Phoenix Park seemed to be the ideal place to site a racecourse on the northern edge of the City of Dublin. Although in the 1830s Garrison Races were staged on the track, and in the 1840s Military meetings were also held, a meeting did take place on Tuesday 21st August 1849 when the Phoenix Park Stakes over 1 ½ miles was won by Mr Williamson’s Postillion, defeating the appropriately named Captain Gambler’s Cracow. However, it proved challenging to establish a closed racecourse at the Park after 1870. There was a movement as early as June 1871, led by Sir John Arnott, to establish a meeting at the Park, but it was not until 1902 that racing got underway at the modern racecourse. It was due to the expertise and business acumen of J H H Peard that the track finally held its inaugural meeting on Friday 29th August 1902. The track remained under the control of the Peard family when first son Harry took over in 1939, and then from 1950 to 1969 his wife Fanny ran the track. Racing continued for 12 years after she retired, but closed at the end of the 1981 season. It bore all the hallmarks for a successful, going concern and a consortium, led by Vernon’s Pools multi-millionaire Robert Sangster and ace racehorse trainer Sir Vincent O’Brien, re-opened the track in 1983. Could such a dynamic partnership fail? The course witnessed much success in this period in hosting prestigious races, including the Phoenix Stakes and the Irish Champion Stakes. However, they did fail after just 7 years and the track closed for the final time on Saturday 13th October 1990.
The Phoenix Park Stakes over 1 ½ miles
1. Postillion, bay horse owned by Mr Williamson
2. Cracow, brown colt owned by Captain Gambler
3. The Darter, bay mare owned by Mr Lane
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
