Earliest meeting: Tuesday 10th September 1833
Final meeting: Wednesday 4th October 1854
The Devon town of Teignmouth, on the north bank of the River Teign, is situated just 14 miles south of Exeter. There is evidence that the Saxons had a settlement nearby, and the town was certainly recorded in the Domesday Book when known as Tengemuoa. The railway came to town in 1846, although 13 years before this the town hosted its own race meetings, starting with a 2 day meeting on Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th September 1833. Races before this were minor affairs, but this meeting was held on The Den and proved popular. The opening Sweepstakes was won by Mr John Groves’ Alice Grey, while on the second day she got the better of Lady Lydia in the Cup race. Races continued annually and were so well attended that at the two day meeting on Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th September 1848 the railway carriages were so overcrowded that punters waiting at Dawlish Station could not board the train and had to walk 3 miles to the course.By the early 1850s the course at The Den was in decline, with too many accidents, too many horses being injured or killed, the Grandstand, formerly for the elite, was being crowded by riff-raff and tradesmen started to refuse pitches. On Monday 19th September 1853 a new course was used at the Turnpike Gate on Exeter Road. The feature Teignmouth Purse saw Mr Rogers’s Phantom defeat Paulina and Spring of Shillalah. The final meeting took place on Wednesday 4th October 1854, although over 20 years later Mr Dewdney, landlord of the Athenaeum Inn, staged a revival meeting on Thursday 12th July 1877 at Little Haldon, but the card also contained Galloway races.

Wednesday 11th September 1833
Teignmouth Cup
1. Alice Grey, aged mare owned by Mr John Groves
2. Lady Lydia, aged mare owned by Mr Carlisle
3. Tom Moore, aged horse owned by Mr Sweet

The final meeting took place on Wednesday 4th October 1854.

Horse racing on the Den occurred up to the early 1850s when the land was owned by the Earl of Devon. Prior to this the land was sandy wasteground, but the Earl turfed it and turned it into a popular racecourse complete with a small grandstand close to the lighthouse. Racing continued at the venue until 1852, after which meetings were transferred to a new course in September 1853 at Turnpike Gate on the Exeter Road, while the Den became a park.

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