Earliest meeting: April 1866
Final meeting: Saturday 1st April 1939
The Hampshire town of Fleet, just 36 miles south west of London and 10 miles east of Basingstoke, is the location of Tweseldown racecourse. National Hunt racing was first staged on the course in April 1866 before becoming the home of the equaestrian events in the 1948 London Olympics. It also offered a very popular programme of point to point racing until 2012, and continues to be used for the cross-country element of eventing. The earliest military meeting was held in April 1866, and by the next year a grand meeting took place on Friday 12th and Saturday 13th April 1867. The card opened with the 3rd Hussars Regimental Challenge Cup which saw Tom Steele, owned by Colonel Vyse, beat The Parson and Mermaid. The 17th Lancers Regimental Cup which followed was won by Lieutenant-Colonel Lowe’s Thame. The course certainly benefitted from the nearby Aldershot Garrison, annually hosting the Grand Military Gold Cup until it transferred to Sandown Park in 1887. In 1877 the Grand Military meeting was held on Tuesday 1st May featuring the Grand Military Handicap Steeplechase which went to Captain Abbott’s Austrey. Jumps racing continued under rules until 1932, but afterwards bona-fide meetings were held until Saturday 1st April 1939.
Major-General Campbell, Colonel Phillpotts, Colonel Herbert
Tuesday 1st May 1877
Grand Military Handicap Steeplechase over 3 miles
1. Austrey, brown mare owned by Captain Abbott
2. Alwalten, bay gelding owned by Captain Follet
3. Bellissima, black mare owned by Captain Slade
4. Moatlands, bay horse owned by Mr Dalbiac
5. Goldilocks, chestnut mare owned by Captain Hattine
Betting: 5/4 Moatlands, 2/1 Alwalten, 5/1 Austrey, 10/1 Bellissima, 10/1 Goldilocks
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
