Earliest meeting: Wednesday 20th September 1732
Final meeting: Thursday 11th May 1854
Spalding, on the River Welland, is a market town in Lincolnshire in the South Holland district of the county. Today it is famous for its annual tulip festival held since 1959, but two centuries before that it was more famous for its racing over the glorious flat countryside which surrounds the town. John Cheny registered racing in the town on Wednesday 20th September 1732, while a year later Baily’s Racing Register first provided detailed results from races held on Monday 3rd August 1733 when the Mr Leathe owned gelding Brocklesby won the £20 Purse. By 1762 the meeting had extended to a 3 day affair, starting on Wednesday 11th August 1762 when the Spalding Purse was won by Mr Smith’s Hazard from Statesman and Castaway. On the final day, Friday 13th August, the Weight for Age Handicap was won by Dizzy, forcing the more fancied Duke of Ancaster’s Croney into third place. Moving on almost a century, a Hurdle Race meeting was staged on Thursday 23rd April 1846 on a course near the correction house on Bourne Road. The principal hurdle race, twice round the course, was won by Mr T H Smith’s Gipsy, beating Queen of Trumps and Cassandra. The final meeting took place on Thursday 11th May 1854 when the South Lincolnshire Stakes over 1 ½ miles went to Miss Briggs owned by Mr Hunter. However, the programme had deteriorated by this stage and the card also contained pony races.
Wednesday 20th September 1732
Spalding 15 Guineas Give or Take
1. MUSHROOM, brown mare owned by Mr Hedden 1 1
2. FEN-FLOWER, grey mare owned by Mr Rugen 2 2
3. UNNAMED chestnut mare owned by Mr Richards 3 3
3 ran
Thursday 21st September 1732
Spalding 10 Guineas Galloway Purse
1. FEN-FLOWER, grey mare owned by Mr Rugen 1 1
2. HIGH GO LIVELY, chestnut mare owned by Mr Wells 3 2
3. SQUEAKING PEGGY, bay mare owned by Mr Moore 2 3
4. UNNAMED bay mare owned by Mr Richards 4 wdr
4 ran
Thursday 21st September 1732
Spalding 25 Guineas Purse
1. RUN NOW OR KISS FOREVER, chestnut horse owned by Mr Leach 1 1 1
2. BLUE RIBBON, grey horse owned by Mr Humberston 2 2 2
3. PLOWMAN, bay gelding owned by Mr Harrod
3 ran
Monday 3rd August 1733
Spalding £20 Purse
1. Brocklesby owned by Mr Leathe
2. Polly owned by Mr Griffin
3. Creeper owned by Mr Hildyard
11th to 13th August 1762
Spalding 2 mile Purse
1. Hazard owned by Mr Smith
2. Statesman owned by Mr Goose
3. Castaway owned by Mr Robinson
Spalding 2 mile Weight for Age Handicap
1. Dizzy owned by Mr Chaplin
2. Infantus owned by Mr Tomlinson
3. Croney owned by the Duke of Ancaster
Wednesday 17th to Friday 19th July 1782
Spalding 3 mile Sweepstake
1. Bay Bolton owned by Mr Vernon
2. Arbutus owned by Lord Clermont
3. Grasshopper owned by Mr Dove
The winner wore White with and Black cap, while the second wore Scarlet.
Spalding Town Purse over 2 miles
1. Fox owned by Mr Hutton
2. Young Chicken owned by Mr Tomlin
3. Sweetlips owned by Mr Reeves
The final meeting at Spalding took place on Thursday 11th May 1854 and consisted of 3 events, a Stakes race over 3 heats, a Pony race over 2 heats, and a Handicap over 3 heats.
Thursday 11th May 1854
South Lincolnshire Stakes over a mile and a half
1. MISS BRIGGS, owned by Mr Hunter and ridden by Nightingale 0 1 1
2. SALOPIAN, owned by Mr Scarborough and ridden by F Edwards 1 2 2
3. BUSHRANGER, owned by Mr T Green and ridden by Garner 0 3 3
4. SCARCITY, owned by Mr Ward and ridden by J Hayes 0 0 wdr
5. ESMERALDA, owned by Mr Ball and ridden by Wright 0 0 wd
Pony race over a mile and a half
1. UNNAMED AGED PONY owned by Mr Hayes 1 1
2. ST MARY, owned by Mr Wright 2 2
3. TOUCH ME NOT owned by Mr Scarborough 3 3
4. ALBAFONT owned by Mr Burgess 4 4
Spalding Handicap over a mile and a half
1. GALILEO, owned by Mr Hunter and ridden by Nightingale 1 2 1
2. MADAME LANDAU, owned by Mr Hooper and ridden by Jaggard 0 1 2
3. BLACK DRAUGHT, owned by Mr Tateson and ridden by Noble 0 0 0
4. PIMPERNEL, owned and ridden by Mr Nicholson 0 0 0
5. FOXHUNTER, owned by Mr Jones and ridden by Marquis 2 wdr
I am grateful to Steven Platt for the present day photo (4/12/2024) of the site of the former racecourse at Spalding. Not much evidence of the excitement that would have gone on at this site some 170 years ago.
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
