Kempton Park Racecourse

Richard Gauthier Collection Kempton Park Racecourse

	The Hampton Court area of London, near Sunbury-on-Thames, has seen a number of racecourses since the middle of the 19th century. Firstly there was Hampton racecourse which was not enclosed, and then on roughly the same site Hurst Park which was enclosed, as well as two modern Park courses, Sandown and Kempton. In 1872 businessman Mr S Hyde was returning home after watching the Derby when he spotted a 400 acre site formerly the Manor of Kempton. He purchased the site and set about transforming it into a fully enclosed Park racecourse. Kempton Park first opened for business on Thursday 18th July 1878 when it staged its first Flat race meeting. Full details of that inaugural meeting are shown below courtesy of the Sporting Times and British Newspaper Online. To mark Queen Victoria's 50th year as Queen, the Grand Jubilee Handicap was run for the first time on Saturday 7th May 1887, resulting in a win for Bendigo, and 22 years later she still occupied the throne in 1895 when the 2 mile Queen’s Prize was run for the first time. During the First World War, between 1914 and 1918, Kempton was used as a military transport depot. Fire destroyed the old grandstand in 1932 and it was two years before a new grandstand was completed and opened. The Grade 1 King George VI Chase, over 3 miles, was first contested in February 1937 when won by Southern Hero. Racing lapsed again between 1939 and 1946 when the course was used as a Prisoner of War camp. In 1966 a meeting, meant to be one of the most exciting days in Kempton’s history, turned out to be a sad one when Arkle sustained an injury in the King George VI Chase, so ending his magnificent career. The King George VI (full results shown below) remains one of the highlights of Kempton’s racing programme which continues to offer top quality racing across both codes. Currently the course offers 69 fixtures annually.


	1937 The King George VI Chase was won by Southern Hero trained by G.Evans and ridden by J.Fawcus 1938 The King George VI Chase was won by Airgead Sios trained by V.Tabor and ridden by T.McNeill 1939-46 The King George VI Chase was not contested due to Kempton being used as a reception centre for prisoners-of-war 1947 The King George VI Chase was won by Rowland Roy trained by Fulke Walwyn and ridden by Bryan Marshall 1948 The King George VI Chase was won by Cottage Rake trained by Vincent O’Brien and ridden by Aubrey Brabazon 1949 The King George VI Chase was won by Finnure trained by George Beeby and ridden by Dick Francis 1950 The King George VI Chase was won by Manicou trained by Peter Cazalet and ridden by Bryan Marshall 1951 The King George VI Chase was won by Stagecraft trained by Peter Cazalet and ridden by Tony Grantham 1952 The King George VI Chase was won by Halloween trained by Bill Wightman and ridden by Fred Winter 1953 The King George VI Chase was won by Galloway Braes trained by Alec Kilpatrick and ridden by Bert Morrow 1954 The King George VI Chase was won by Halloween trained by Bill Wightman and ridden by Fred Winter 1955 The King George VI Chase was won by Limber Hill trained by Bill Dutton and ridden by Jimmy Power 1956 The King George VI Chase was won by Rose Park trained by Peter Cazalet and ridden by Michael Scudamore 1957 The King George VI Chase was won by Mandarin trained by Fulke Walwyn and ridden by Gerry Madden 1958 The King George VI Chase was won by Lochroe trained by Peter Cazalet and ridden by Arthur Freeman 1959 The King George VI Chase was won by Mandarin trained by Fulke Walwyn and ridden by Gerry Madden 1960 The King George VI Chase was won by Saffron Tartan trained by Don Butchers and ridden by Fred Winter 1961 The King George VI Chase was not contested because of frost 1962 The King George VI Chase was not contested because of frost 1963 The King George VI Chase was won by Mill House trained by Fulke Walwyn and ridden by Willie Robinson 1964 The King George VI Chase was won by Frenchman’s Cove trained by Harry Thomson-Jones and ridden by Stan Mellor 1965 The King George VI Chase was won by Arkle trained by Tom Dreaper and ridden by Pat Taaffe 1966 The King George VI Chase was won by Dormant trained by John Wells-Kendrew and ridden by Jeff King 1967 The King George VI Chase was not contested because of foot and mouth disease 1968 The King George VI Chase was not contested due to foot and mouth disease 1969 The King George VI Chase was won by Titus Oats trained by Gordon W Richards and ridden by Stan Mellor 1970 The King George VI Chase was not contested because of snow 1971 The King George VI Chase was won by The Dikler trained by Fulke Walwyn and ridden by Barry Brogan 1972 The King George VI Chase was won by Pendil trained by Fred Winter and ridden by Richard Pitman 1973 The King George VI Chase was won by Pendil trained by Fred Winter and ridden by Richard Pitman 1974 The King George VI Chase was won by Captain Christy trained by Pat Taaffe and ridden by Bobby Coonan 1975 The King George VI Chase was won by Captain Christy trained by Pat Taaffe and ridden by Gerry Newman 1976 The King George VI Chase was won by Royal Marshall II trained by Tim Forster and ridden by Graham Thorner 1977 The King George VI Chase was won by Bachelor’s Hall trained by Peter Cundell and ridden by Martin O’Halloran 1978 The King George VI Chase was won by Gay Spartan trained by Tony Dickinson and ridden by Tommy Carmody 1979 The King George VI Chase was won by Silver Buck trained by Tony Dickinson and ridden by Tommy Carmody 1980 The King George VI Chase was won by Silver Buck trained by Michael Dickinson and ridden by Tommy Carmody 1981 The King George VI Chase was not contested due to snow 1982 The King George VI Chase was won by Wayward Lad trained by Michael Dickinson and ridden by John Francome 1983 The King George VI Chase was won by Wayward Lad trained by Michael Dickinson and ridden by Robert Earnshaw 1984 The King George VI Chase was won by Burrough Hill Lad trained by Jenny Pitman and ridden by John Francome 1985 The King George VI Chase was won by Wayward Lad trained by Monica Dickinson and ridden by Graham Bradley 1986 The King George VI Chase was won by Desert Orchid trained by David Elsworth and ridden by Simon Sherwood 1987 The King George VI Chase was won by Nupsala trained by Francois Doumen and ridden by Andre Pommier 1988 The King George VI Chase was won by Desert Orchid trained by David Elsworth and ridden by Simon Sherwood 1989 The King George VI Chase was won by Desert Orchid trained by David Elsworth and ridden by Richard Dunwoody 1990 The King George VI Chase was won by Desert Orchid trained by David Elsworth and ridden by Richard Dunwoody 1991 The King George VI Chase was won by The Fellow trained by Francois Doumen and ridden by Adam Kondrat 1992 The King George VI Chase was won by The Fellow trained by Francois Doumen and ridden by Adam Kondrat 1993 The King George VI Chase was won by Barton Bank trained by David Nicholson and ridden by Adrian Maguire 1994 The King George VI Chase was won by Algan trained by Francois Doumen and ridden by Philippe Chevalier 1995 The King George VI Chase (run at Sandown because of snow at Kempton) was won by One Man trained by Gordon W Richards and ridden by Richard Dunwoody 1996 The King George VI Chase was won by One Man trained by Gordon W Richards and ridden by Richard Dunwoody 1997 The King George VI Chase was won by See More Business trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Andrew Thornton 1998 The King George VI Chase was won by Teeton Mill trained by Venetia Williams and ridden by Norman Williamson 1999 The King George VI Chase was won by See More Business trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Mick Fitzgerald 2000 The King George VI Chase was won by First Gold trained by Francois Doumen and ridden by Thierry Doumen 2001 The King George VI Chase was won by Florida Pearl trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Adrian Maguire 2002 The King George VI Chase was won by Best Mate trained by Henrietta Knight and ridden by Tony McCoy 2003 The King George VI Chase was won by Edredon Bleu trained by Henriette Knight and ridden by Jim Culloty 2004 The King George VI Chase was won by Kicking King trained by Tom Taaffe and ridden by Barry Geraghty 2005 The King George VI Chase (run at Sandown because Kempton was closed for refurbishment) was won by Kicking King trained by Tom Taaffe and ridden by Barry Geraghty 2006 The King George VI Chase was won by Kauto Star trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Ruby Walsh 2007 The King George VI Chase was won by Kauto Star trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Ruby Walsh 2008 The King George VI Chase was won by Kauto Star trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Ruby Walsh 2009 The King George VI Chase was won by Kauto Star trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Ruby Walsh 2010 The King George VI Chase (run on 15th January 2011 due to snow on Boxing Day) was won by Long Run trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Mr Sam Waley-Cohen 2011 The King George VI Chase was won by Kauto Star trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Ruby Walsh 2012 The King George VI Chase was won by Long Run trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Mr Sam Waley-Cohen 2013 The King George VI Chase was won by Silviniaco Conti trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Noel Fehily 2014 The King George VI Chase was won by Silviniaco Conti trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Noel Fehily 2015 The King George VI Chase was won by Cue Card trained by Colin Tizzard and ridden by Paddy Brennan 2016 The King George VI Chase was won by Thistlecrack trained by Colin Tizzard and ridden by Tom Scudamore