| Warrington is a large town standing on the
banks of the River Mersey, and is in the unitary authority of Cheshire having historically
been a part of Lancashire. It is known that racing took place in the vicinity of
Warrington from 1700 until 1760 at Latchford, a village one mile south of the town centre. |
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| .I am grateful to the Warrington Museum for
providing an article from 'The Manchester Magazine' which was published on 12th June 1750,
confirming that Warrington Race Course was indeed situated on Latchford Heath between
Knutsford Road and Thelwall Lane. The article is reproduced below:- |
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| Just as racing was being wound up in
Warrington in 1760, and no further mention is made of racing ever having taken place
since, a horse called Billy was born. He was to become famous because in 1819 Old Billy
retired to the Victoria Park Estate in Warrington having previously worked for the Mersey
and Irwell Navigation Company until 1819. The remarkable fact is that he died on 27th
November 1822 aged 62 |
| With thanks to Richard
English for the scan and Gerald Tinsley
for his remarkable research |