Earliest meeting: Saturday 8th August 1724
Final meeting: Thursday 3rd April 1856
The tiny village of Staindrop is in county Durham to the east of Barnard Castle. The village and its church date back to the 10th century, the church containing effigies of the Neville family. On the outskirts of the village is Raby Castle, former home of John Vane, and about 5 kilometres north west of the village is Raby Old Lodge, a medieval tower. Today the village enjoys a long green in its centre, but back in the mid-1700s there was Staindrop Moor, and it was here that races took place in 1724. The earliest record of a meeting was on Saturday 8th August 1724 when a £10 Plate over 4 miles was staged on Staindrop Moor. Entries for the race were accepted by Mrs Elizabeth Ledger who also offered stabling facilities. Although the Newcastle Courant advertised the meeting, it did not subsequently go on to report the results. Later a meeting was held on Friday 3rd September 1756 and consisted of a match between Mr Redshaw and Mr Hewetson which was won by the former. Exactly a century later a steeplechase meeting was staged over 3 miles of good hunting ground when the Staindrop Steeplechase was won by Mr T Hutchinson’s Durham Port Wine, beating Plucky and The Huntsman. After the Farmers’ Plate had been won by Mr Robson’s Squire of Bensham, defeating Rambler and Monkton, the card was completed by 2 pony races. Did a meeting take place on 3rd April 1956 to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary?
Liuet Colonel Somerset, Mrs Elizabeth Ledger, Mr T Hutchinson (Steward), Mr Hewetson, Mr Redshaw
The newspaper extract below is shown courtesy of the Newcastle Courant and British Newspaper Online.
Friday 3rd September 1756
Friday 3rd September 1756 Staindrop Match
1. Slug owned by Mr Redshaw
2. A Brown horse owned by Mr Hewetson
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
