Thirsk Racecourse History | ||||
One of the oldest courses in the country was at Hambleton, just 8 miles from Thirsk, which held meetings as early as 1612. However, in the middle of the 19th century a famous committee meeting took place in 1854 at the Golden Fleece Hotel in Thirsk when Frederick Bell offered his Thirsk Hall estate as a venue for race meetings. The offer was accepted and the inaugural meeting on the new course took place on Thursday 15th March 1855. Just four years later the Thirsk Hunt Cup, valued at £30, was won by Egg Sauce owned by Sir C Slingsby, increasing in value to 100 guineas in 1862 when Lady Bird was triumphant, but decreasing to £50 in 1868 when won by Scarrington. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward, visited Thirsk in 1895 and a large crowd, not seen since the days when Fred Archer rode at Thirsk, attended the meeting. The Royal Stand, nicknamed The Royal Pavillion, was built in the centre of the course for his use on 17th and 18th October 1895. The course closed from 1914 to 1923 because of the First World War, during which the old grandstand, known as The Royal Pavilion, was demolished, but the course reopened on Friday 8th August 1924 with Sir Loftus Bates at the helm. The year 1940 was a pivotal year for Thirsk, hosting the St Leger for the one and only time, after it was transferred from Doncaster due to the War. It proved to be a triumph for Sir Gordon Richards on Turkham owned by H.H.Aga Khan. Shortly afterwards racing ceased until 1946. In 1975 John Sanderson took over as Clerk of the Course, one of a number of Yorkshire courses he oversaw and developed. Currently the course hosts 17 fixtures annually. Thursday 15th March 1855 |
||||
Thirsk continues to thrive today, whereas nearby Hambleton closed its gates for the final time in 1811. | ||||
Racing at Hambleton was recorded as early as July 1612, which suggests that it was in place even before Newmarket. A key success indicator for any meeting in those early days was to get royal approval. Newmarket got its through James I and Hambleton was supported by Queen Anne until her death in 1714. The Queen Anne Cup was for horses, mares or geldings up to 5 years old to race over a 4 mile circuit and carry 10 stone. Often, in the early days, the meeting was referred to as 'Black Hambleton' although that area was far too hilly and the meeting itself was staged a short distance south. The Jockey Club wished to limit the number of meetings nationwide which working folk could attend. Their method of reduction was to prohibit meetings where the prize money was less than £50 per race. However, three exceptions were given to ensure that racing continued to take place in the important areas; Newmarket and York were two of the exceptions, whilst the third was Black Hambleton. On Saturday 8th August 1779 new ground was broken at Hambleton when the first race for 2 year olds in the north was held. Up to then horses had to be aged 3 before they could race, and not long before this date horses had to reach the age of 4 before commencing racing. It is not surprising that the meeting at Hambleton finally died out; indeed the surprise is that it lasted so long, given its location and the difficulties of getting to the meeting for horses, owners and punters. The final meeting took place on Saturday 27th July 1811 and all evidence of the existence of such an important race meeting has now vanished forever. Saturday 8th August 1719 |
||||
I am grateful to Ordnance Survey (© Crown Copyright) for permission to use the 1860 map shown below. | ||||
1939 Gents | 1947 Gents | 1948 Gents | 1949 Gents | 1950 Gents |
The extracts below give details of the inaugural meeting run on the present day Thirsk Hall Estate course on Thursday 15th March 1855 and are shown courtesy of the York Herald and British Library Online. | ||||
1953 Gents | 1953 Ladies | 1954 Gents | 1954 Ladies | 1955 Gents |
The rare handbill shown below is provided courtesy of the Robert Shaw collection. | ||||
1964 Gents | 1964 Ladies | 1965 Gents | 1966 Gents | 1967 Gents |
1967 Ladies | 1968 Gents | 1969 Gents | 1970 Gents | 1970 Ladies |
1971 Gents | 1971 Ladies | 1972 Gents | 1972 Ladies | 1973 Ladies |
Today the Thirsk Hunt Cup is a Class 2 Handicap run over 1 mile, but when it was first contested in 1859 it was confined to half-bred horses that had been regularly hunted with any established pack of foxhounds. It was run over 2 ½ miles and reserved for gentlemen riders. The inaugural event was won by the Egg Sauce, owned and ridden by Sir Charles Slingsby, the 10th Baronet of Scriven. Results of subsequent Hunt Cups are shown below. | ||||
1974 Gents | 1975 Gents | 1976 Gents | 1977 Gents | 1978 Gents |
1859 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Egg Sauce, owned and ridden by Sir Charles Slingsby 9 ran 1860 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Roscrea (7/1), owned by Mr W E Duncombe and ridden by Captain Riddell 24 ran 1861 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Tom Ball (10/1), owned by Lord Middleton and ridden by Mr Wood 17 ran 1862 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Lady Bird (5/4 fav), owned by Sir G Strickland and ridden by Mr G S Thompson 21 ran 1863 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Wali Ali Wajid (5/2), owned by Mr T Hall and ridden by Mr G S Thompson 8 ran 1864 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Adonis (10/1, owned by Sir G Strickland and ridden by Mr C Boynton 14 ran 1865 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Vandal (4/7 fav), owned by Lord Middleton and ridden by Mr C Boynton 11 ran 1866 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Marksman (4/6 fav), owned by Mr R Calder and ridden by Mr C S Boynton 13 ran 1867 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by an Unnamed colt by Lord Fauconberg (7/4 fav), owned by Mr Leighton and ridden by Mr C Boynton 9 ran |
||||
1979 Gents | ||||
1868 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Scarrington (11/8 fav), owned by Mr T Wilkinson and ridden by Mr T Spence 5 ran 1869 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Scarrington (6/4), owned by Mr T Wilkinson and ridden by Mr T Spence 5 ran 1870 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Lawsuit (2/1 fav), owned by Lord Feversham and ridden by Mr G S Thompson 7 ran 1871 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Defence (2/1 fav), owned by Mr R Danby and ridden by Mr Elrington 8 ran 1872 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Redbreast (6/4), owned by Mr G Simpson and ridden by Mr W Simpson 2 ran 1873 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Duc de Beaufort (7/2 jf), owned by Mr H F C Vyner and ridden by Mr G S Thompson 16 ran 1874 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Master Cap (4/1), owned by Captain Fryer and ridden by Mr Brooks 9 ran 1875 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Whalebone (4/5 fav), owned by Mr J M Richardson and ridden by Mr Rolly 9 ran 1876 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Fred Aislable (7/1), owned by Mr Vyner and ridden by Mr G S Thompson 9 ran |
||||
1980 Gents | ||||
1981 Gents | 1982 Gents | 1983 Gents | 1984 Gents | 1985 Gents |
1877 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Zaandam (Evens fav), owned by Mr C Clark and ridden by Mr R Walker 6 ran |
||||
1986 Gents | 1987 Gents | 1988 Gents | 1989 Gents | 1990 Gents |
1885 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Oakleaf (1/2 fav), owned by Mr M D Peacock and ridden by Mr Peacock 4 ran |
||||
1991 Gents | 1992 Gents | 1993 Gents | 1994 Gents | 1995 Gents |
In 1890 a new management group took over at the course, hoping to ‘regain the old prestige and patronage’. With such small fields of 5, 3 and 4 in the past 3 years the group decided to drop the Hunt Cup from its programme. The race returned to the calendar in the 20th century as the principal one mile race at the track. |
||||
1996 Gents | 1997 Gents | 1998 Gents | 1999 Gents | 2000 Gents |
1956 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Sonorous (6/1), trained by Cottrill and ridden by Doug Smith 15 ran |
||||
2001 Gents | 2002 Gents | 2003 Gents | 2004 Gents | 2005 Gents |
1997 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Gadge (4/1), trained by A Bailey and ridden by D Wright 17 ran |
||||
2006 Gents | 2007 Gents | 2008 Gents | 2008 Member | 2009 Gents |
2008 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Extraterrestrial (4/1), trained by Richard Fahey and ridden by Paul Hanagan 14 ran |
||||
2010 Gents | 2010 Ladies | 2011 Gents | 2012 Ladies | 2012 Gents |
2013 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Norse Blues (7/2), trained by David Barron and ridden by Graham Gibbons 15 ran |
||||
2013 Gents | 2014 Gents | 2014 Ladies | 2015 Ladies | 2015 Gents |
2016 The Thirsk Hunt Cup was won by Finn Class (16/1), trained by Michael Dods and ridden by Tom Eaves 15 ran |
||||
2016 Ladies | 2016 Gents | 2017 Ladies | 2017 Gents | 2018 Guest |
2018 The Thirsk Hunt Cup, run at Wetherby, was won by Original Choice (6/1), trained by William Haggas and ridden by Ben Curtis 15 ran |
||||
2018 Gents | 2018 Ladies | 2019 Gents | 2019 Guest | 2019 Ladies |
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 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copies of the above books are only available by emailing johnwslusar@gmail.com stating your requirements, method of payment (cheque payable to W.Slusar) or Bank transfer, and the address where the book(s) should be sent. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|