Earliest meeting: Tuesday 12th June 1792
Final meeting: Wednesday 30th September 1863
Tenbury Wells is a Worcestershire market town in the Malvern Hills district of the county which can trace its history back to the Iron Age. It was on an important coaching route, so it seemed a natural progression to hold races. It first staged races on Tuesday 12th June 1792 on a course at the Old Wood Common, a mile south of the town centre, and just two years later was attracting prominent owners. A case in point is the meeting on Wednesday 18th June 1794 when the feature Town Plate was fought out between Lord Donegal and Lord Stamford. Despite the support of the nobility and landed gentry the racing was sometimes of an inferior quality. Furthermore, the management made the awkward decision of staging some of the races in the morning, and completing the card in the evening. Races continued for over 70 years until a final flat meeting on Wednesday 30th September 1863 when the Town Plate was won by Mr T Parr’s Aslauga, the Selling Stakes by Mr E Edwards’s Trincomalee, and the West Worcestershire Stakes by Mr T Parr’s Blondin.
Wednesday 18th June 1794
Tenbury Maiden Plate over 4 miles
Virgin owned by Lord Donegal
Critic owned by Mr Darling
Tiger owned by Lord Stamford
Tuesday 8th July 1824
Tenbury Plate over 2 miles
1. Unnamed gelding by Master Richard owned by Mr Cato
2. Thirzina owned by Mr Ormsby Gore
3. Sal Volatile owned by Mr Griffiths
Tenbury 5 Guineas Sweepstakes over 3 miles
1. Sylvanus owned by Mr T Pickernell
2. Trooper owned by Mr Benbow
Tenbury 5 Sovereign Sweepstakes over 2 miles
1. Neuter owned by Mr L Charlton
2. Actress owned by Mr Patrick
3. Olivia owned by Mr Deverieux
James Whyte’s History of the British Turf notes that racing first took place at Tenbury on the River Teme, some 22 miles from Worcester, on a good course a mile South of the town, in 1792 and that racing usually consisted of a two day meeting in mid-June. Whyte records the June 1839 races as:-
West Worcestershire Members Plate;
The meeting at Tenbury took place on Monday 18th August 1856 when William Lort was the Chief Steward. The bill of fare did not look appealing, nor was the weather exactly what was wished for, but those who did attend hoped that future Tenbury races could rank alongside Hereford, Ludlow and other similar local places.
West-Worcestershire Stakes over 1 1/4 miles
1. GRILLADE 3/1 owned by Mr L Charlton and ridden by T Cliff
2. BETSY B 8/1 owned by Mr Carr and ridden by E Jones
3. SIRIUS 4/1 owned by Mr S Smithers and ridden by Rogers
4. MISS HATCH 3/1 owned by Mr Richards and ridden by Rye
5. BROMPTON 2/1 fav owned by Mr Weyman and ridden by R Sly
Town Stakes over 1 1/4 miles
1. BETSY B 4/6 fav owned by Mr Carr and ridden by E Jones
2. UNNAMED bay filly 3/1 owned by Mr S Smithers and ridden by Rogers
3. MISS HATCH 2/1 owned by Mr Richards and ridden by Rye
The Licensed Victuallers Selling Stakes did not fill.
The map below indicates an outline of the former racecourse and is shown courtesy of Google.
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:-
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
