Earliest meeting: Monday 9th October 1721
Final meeting: Thursday 22nd October 1857
The city of Sunderland, on the River Wear, is in Tyne and Wear and grew as a port trading coal and salt as early as the 14th century. The earliest mention of a race meeting in the city was in the Newcastle Courant of Saturday 19th August 1721 which advertised the 3 day meeting which began on Monday 9th October 1721 and held on the Town Moor area of Sunderland, later known as Hendon (see photos below). The newspaper extract is shown below, although the paper did not report the results from the meeting. Baily’s Racing Register first provided detailed results from races held on Sunderland Sands on Sunday 21st September 1732 when the £25 Plate was won by Mr Vane’s Jigg Filly, and the Gold Cup by Ringtail for Mr Newton. That 1732 meeting was the final one staged on Town Moor. More than a century later the Sporting Magazine of 1837 reported a 2 day meeting at Red House Farm from Wednesday 13th to Thursday 14th September 1837 when the Members Plate was won by Mr Clarke’s Swainby, and the Hunters Stakes by Eliza for Mr Davidson. The final meeting took place on Thursday 22nd October 1857, although racing did return to the area in the late 19th and early 20th century when Sunderland and South Shields races combined to stage meetings at East Boldon from 1897 to 1912.
The newspaper extract given below is shown courtesy of the Newcastle Courant and the British Library Online.
At Sunderland races in 1729 a curious incident occurred in the third heat of the £25 Plate. Smiling Molly was running in second place when she fell to her knees and appeared to throw her jockey. However, Harmless who was running in third place tried to pass Smiling Molly and her jockey reached down to help the jockey of Smiling Molly regain his balance. The leader, by this stage, had raced half a distance clear, although she ‘took offence at the shouting crowd’ and ran the wrong side of the Post. Although her jockey was able to stop her, turn her round and go the correct side of the Post she was automatically disqualified. This enabled Smiling Molly to race to victory in the third heat, so claiming the £25 Plate.
Sunday 21st September 1732
Sunderland £25 Plate
1. Jigg Filly owned by Mr Vane
2. Othello owned by Mr Bowes
3. Unnamed Chestnut mare owned by Mr Winship
Sunderland Gold Cup over 3 miles
1. Ringtail owned by Mr Newton
2. Northern Star owned by Mr Errington
3. Almahide owned by Mr Noble
4. Swallow owned by Mr Hassel
I am grateful to Keith Nicholson for the photos below, taken in mid-October 2022, and the picture of the board which commemorates all that was witnessed on Town Moor, Sunderland
Wednesday 13th & Thursday 14th September 1837
Sunderland Members Plate over 2 miles
1. Swainby owned by Mr Clarke
2. Imp owned by Mr Jobling
3. Mr Merryman owned by Mr H S Thompson
Sunderland Hunters Stakes over 2 miles
1. Eliza owned by Mr Davidson
2. Finesse owned by Mr H S Thompson
Sunderland Hurdle Race over 1 ½ miles and 4 hurdles
1. Isabella owned by Mr Wormald
2. Trefoil owned by Captain Pott
3. Provost owned by Mr Beswick
Monday 3rd & Tuesday 4th September 1855
The Sunderland Handicap over a mile
1. Leybourne Lass owned by Mr Dobson
2. Yeutick owned by Mr G Duggleby
3. Angelo owned by Mr Brown
The Sunderland Members Plate over a mile
1. Contentment owned by Mr Ridsdale
2. Angelo owned by Mr Rogers
3. Unnamed filly by Foxberry owned by Mr Dawson
Although Sunderland Racecourse closed on Thursday 22nd October 1857, and South Shields Racecourse closed on Tuesday 29th May 1855, the two places both enjoyed further racing in the latter years of the 19th century and early years of the 20th century. The Sunderland and South Shields racecourse was located on Bolden Flats at Cleadon Lane and was ideally situated just 200 yards from Cleadon Lane Station. The course proprietors received the support of the North Eastern Railway Company when they launched their venture. Richard Thornton and Sidney Stone leased 44 acres of Boldon Fields on a 20-year lease having opened a company grandly called the North of England Racing, Skating and Athletics Sports Company. The development of the course was speedy, including a wonderful paddock, two grandstands holding 1800 and 1000 spectators, and spacious facilities. They advertised the inaugural meeting on Monday 2nd August 1897 as the Peoples Turf Festival and were well rewarded with a crowd in excess of 20,000 people. The venue staged 3 horse race meetings annually, as well as additional athletics and skating meets, on a track, shown below, which was a mile circumference with a 4 furlong straight. Although Thornton and Stone applied to the Jockey Club to hold their meeting under the Rules of Racing, their request was denied and they had to race under the British Racing Association Rules as a flapping track. Notwithstanding that setback, they offered prize money of £350 (equivalent to £47,000 in 2021) for their 6 race programme, a prize fund which many racecourses today can only dream of. In 1910, while racing was still being held 3 times a year, the Sunderland Airshow was hosted at the track, although tragedy struck on 1st August 1910 when the crack lady pilot, Madame Mathilde Franck, mistook the height of a flagpole and hit it causing her to crash and, although she escaped from the crash a boy on the ground was killed. The final meeting was staged on Monday 6th May 1912 when the final race, the Cleadon Handicap, saw Young April beat False Lady.
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
