Earliest meeting: June 1729
Final meeting: Thursday 31st March 1842
Ruthin, the county town of Denbighshire, is divided into two parts, the old town at the top of the hill which also contains the Castle, and the more modern part of the town which is built on the floodplain of the River Clwyd. The building of Ruthin’s famous Castle began in 1277 and 450 years later a racecourse was formed in its grounds. Baily’s Racing Register first provided detailed results from races held at Ruthin (Ruthen sic) to celebrate Midsummer in June 1729, when the £16 Plate was won by Mr Horton’s Witty Gelding. Races continued infrequently until a final meeting took place on Thursday 31st March 1842, when the Town Cup was won by Mr James’s St Valentine, while the Ruthin Hurdle went to Mr Mostyn’s Protigee. Although races continued after this date on a regular basis, the programme invariably contained Galloway and half bred races.
June 1729
Ruthin £16 Plate
1. Witty Gelding owned by Mr Horton
2. Merry Andrew owned by Mr Pulestone
I am grateful to Ordnance Survey (© Crown Copyright) for permission to use the map shown below.
.jpg)
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
