Earliest meeting: April 1760
Final meeting: Tuesday 11th June 1867
The West Sussex seaside town of Shoreham-by-Sea, close to the River Adur, has a rich history which dates back before Roman times, its church having parts which date back to Anglo Saxon times. It was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 and, much later, the ‘County History of Sussex’ noted that a two day meeting was held in Shoreham in April 1760 for a Silver Cup run in heats, with a heat being three times round the Sheep Field. However, it was to be almost a century before the next mention of a meeting on Friday 21st April 1854 when Lord A Lennox acted as steward and the principal race was the Shoreham Stakes. The final time races were staged in the town was on Tuesday 11th June 1867 when the meeting, organised by Mr W Scott Stonehaven, was held at Thunder’s Barrow. The meeting opened with the Old Shoreham Stakes which went to Lord Paulet’s Humphrey Davey, as did the later Erringham Handicap, while the Southwick Stakes was won by Mr Elphick’s Polly.

Tuesday 11th June 1867
Old Shoreham Stakes over ¾ mile
1. Humphrey Davey, 4 year old owned by Lord Paulet
2. Newick Lass, bay horse owned by Mr Weston
3. Three and a Half, aged horse owned by Mr H F Chichester

The final recorded meeting took place on Tuesday 11th June 1867.

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

ISBN 978-0-9957632-0-3

652 pages

774 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-1-0

352 pages

400 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-2-7

180 pages

140 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-3-4

264 pages

235 former courses