Vincent Hinde Collection

Northolt Park Racecourse

Northolt Park, located between Harrow and Ealing, was formerly in the old county of Middlesex.The first recorded race meeting took place on Monday 4th May 1929, the course being the most well known of all the courses to host pony races. The body in charge of the administration of pony racing was the ‘Pony Turf Club’ which was at its height in the 1930s. The left-handed course was 10 furlongs round, but was able to offer races between 5 fulongs and over 2 miles. Northolt was a pioneer in a number of ways, especially in the timing of races and the use of starting stalls adapted so that the timer began when the stalls opened, ending when the nose of the winning pony broke the ray across the winning line. Even as punters entered the course they were greeted by a spectacular gate called the Benjamin Barriers; the gates still remain despite the course no longer existing. The principal race was the Northolt Derby which was so popular it was televised in 1938, even competing for air time with the Epsom Derby when Epsom temporarily refused the BBC to broadcast the great race. In the end a compromise was reached and both were broadcast. On Monday 12th June 1939 there was a famous victory in the Northolt Derby when the eccentric Miss Dorothy Paget won with Scottish Rifle. Racing continued until June 1940 before the War finally intervened. Expectations were high at the start of 1940 with 35 days of racing advertised, and even a month before its demise the course was advertising a meeting on Monday 24th June starting at 6.30pm, with the Northolt Derby due to be run at 7.35pm. Then an announcement came,’The receiver and manager of Northolt Park Ltd has been requested by the War Office to fall into line with the decision affecting horse racing, and the meeting scheduled for Monday 24th June has been cancelled’. The course was used as an army depot and prisoner of War camp, and after the War racing did not return. The Racecourse Estate was built in the early 1950s, although that famous set of gates can still be seen close to Northolt Railway Station.