Earliest meeting: April 1762
Final meeting: Sunday 24th August 1924
Racing was first held at Upton, a village in the Parish of Overchurch near Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, in 1762. Upton has a long, illustrious history and was mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1086 when known as Optone. The racecourse was situated in the grounds of the Upton Manor Estate, on a field referred to as the Great Croft, which was owned by William Inman. The races coincided with two fairs celebrating Easter and Michaelmas. Although racing came to an end in the late 1700s, there was an effort to reintroduce racing on Upton Park after the First World War. The mile and a half course was constructed on land owned by Home Farm, adjacent to Upton Manor and next to the Moreton Road, and the first revival races were held in April 1922 when a crowd in excess of 12,000 attended. The meeting was a two day affair organised by the Isle of Man racing Association, starting on Saturday 15th April and continuing to Easter Monday 17th April 1922, with 6 races on each day ranging from 5 furlongs to 3 miles. By 1923, such was their popularity that two meetings took place, in October and November, with Flat and Hurdle races to cater for every taste. Racing continued for a further two years before the Wallasey Corporation brought the venture to a halt by claiming the land for its new cemetery. The final meeting took place on Sunday 24th August 1924.
Upton Park Handicap, Wallasey Handicap, Leasowe Stakes
The final meeting was held on Sunday 24th August 1924, although meetings were advertised in September, but there are no reports of any results from those meetings and they may well have not taken place. The results of the final 2 races held at the track are shown below:-
Sunday 24th August 1924
Baltic Handicap
- Pungency Evens fav
- Tangiers 3/1
- Lady Evelyn 10/1
The winner won by a length and 5 ran.
Cedric Handicap
- Cairo 4/6 fav
- Overture 5/2
- Welcome 4/1
The winner won by a head and 4 ran
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
