Earliest meeting: May 1590
Final meeting: Tuesday 5th April 1785
Today Wallasey is a town on the River Mersey in the Borough of Wirral, yet in the late 1500s the town gained fame as being the first racecourse laid out specifically for the purpose of horse racing. The course opened in 1590, stretching from Wallasey Village to the sands of Leasowe, and such was the extent of the interest in racing that Ferdinando, The Fifth Earl of Derby, built a grandstand (an Octagonal viewing tower with windows on each of the eight sides) in 1593 as much for viewing as to keep the gentry away from the lesser mortals. Racing stables were built close to the racecourse in what is now Sandiways Road, but back in the time of the stables it was called Jockey Road. The Duke of Monmouth, a keen racing enthusiast, visited Wallasey in September 1682. His name was James Scott and he was the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II and his mistress Lucy Walter. Later he made a fateful, unsuccessful attempt to depose his uncle, King James II, in what was known as the ‘Monmouth Rebellion’. As a result of this he was executed at Tower Hill on 15th July 1685. Although the Fifth Earl of Derby developed the course and built the grandstand, it was to be over 100 years before a number of the landed gentry were to meet to discuss a ‘super race’. That group included the Earl of Derby, Lord Gower, the Dukes of Devonshire, Ancaster and Bridgewater, along with Lord Molyneux, with the race in question being The Wallasey Stakes. Subscribers were invited to pay an annual subscription of 20 guineas for a 10-year period, the race being for 5-year-olds carrying 10stone over 4 miles, and was first run in 1723, continuing to be contested on the first Thursday in May until 1732. Baily’s Racing Register first provided detailed results from the meeting held on Thursday 1st May 1727 when Sir R Grosvenor’s Spot won the 4 mile Wallasey Stakes. After 1732 the Wallasey Stakes transferred to racing Headquarters at Newmarket, but by 1780 it had moved again, this time to Epsom where, on the toss of a coin, it was renamed The Derby by Edward, the Twelfth Earl of Derby. The final meeting took place on Tuesday 5th April 1785.
This racecourse is covered in Volume 1 of Racecourses Here Today and Gone Tomorrow. Ordering details shown below.
Tuesday 12th September 1682
Wallasey £60 Purse
1. Unnamed horse owned by the Duke of Monmouth
2. Young Whiteley ridden by his owner
3. Unnamed horse owned by Mr Bold
WALLASEY STAKES WINNERS 1723-1732
Thursday 6th May 1723
1. UNNAMED horse owned by the Duke of Ancaster
Thursday 4th May 1724
Wallasey Stakes for 5-y-o carrying 10st over 4 miles
1. SHAGG owned by Sir Richard Grosvenor
Thursday 3rd May 1725
Wallasey Stakes for 5-y-o carrying 10st over 4 miles
1. MERMAID owned by The Duke of Devonshire
Thursday 5th May 1726
Wallasey Stakes for 5-y-o carrying 10st over 4 miles
1. GREY WYNN owned by Sir Richard Grosvenor
Thursday 4th May 1727
Wallasey Stakes for 5-y-o carrying 10st over 4 miles
1. SPOT owned by Sir Richard Grosvenor
The Grey horse beat a field of seven others, although further details were not provided.
Thursday 9th May 1728
Wallasey Stakes for 5-y-o carrying 10st over 4 miles
1. GENTLEMAN, grey horse owned by the Duke of Ancaster
2. CRIPPLE, grey horse owned by Mr Mackworth
3. BRAVO, chestnut horse owned by Sir Nathaniel Curzon
4. VULCAN, grey horse owned by Mr Egerton
5. FAVOURITE, bay horse owned by Duke of Bridgewater
6. TERROR, chestnut horse owned by Sir Richard Grosvenor
6 ran
Thursday 8th May 1729
Wallasey Stakes for 5-y-o carrying 10st over 4 miles
1. NANNY, grey mare owned by Mr Egerton
2. JIGG, bay horse owned by Duke of Ancaster
3. TRUSTY ROGER, bay horse owned by Mr Mackworth
4. UNNAMED chestnut horse owned Mr Williams
5. UNNAMED chestnut horse owned by Duke of Bridgewater
6. DUSTY MILLER, chestnut horse owned by Lord Gower
7. BURGUNDY, chestnut horse owned by Lord Barrymore
8. SWIMMER, chestnut horse owned by Sir Richard Grosvenor
9. BRIGADIER, bay horse owned by Lord Derby
9 ran
Thursday 7th May 1730
Wallasey Stakes for 5-y-o carrying 10st over 4 miles
1. UNNAMED chestnut horse owned by Lord Gower
2. UNNAMED grey mare owned by Mr Williams
3. UNNAMED grey horse owned by Sir Nathaniel Curzon
4. BALL, chestnut horse owned by Duke of Ancaster
9 ran
Thursday 3rd May 1731
Wallasey Stakes for 5-y-o carrying 10st over 4 miles
1. CRAB, grey horse owned by the Duke of Ancaster
2. UNNAMED bay horse, owned by Duke of Bridgewater
6 ran
Thursday 1st May 1732
Wallasey Stakes for 5-y-o carrying 10st over 4 miles
1. DRIVER, grey horse owned by the Duke of Ancaster
2. UNNAMED grey horse owned by Sir Nathaniel Curzon
3. COUNTRY WENCH, bay mare owned by Mr Willams Wynn
4. SMOCKFACE, bay horse owned by Mr Williams
6 ran
Today the old racecourse is covered by the successful Wallasey & Leasowes Golf courses, with Leasowe Castle to the West of the latter course.
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
