Earliest meeting: Monday 6th October 1806
Final meeting: Friday 20th October 1876
Wrexham, in Clwyd, the largest town in north Wales, is situated in the lower Dee valley, bordering the English county of Cheshire. The first recorded meeting in the town was a two day affair which took place on Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th October 1806, when the Subscription Plate over 2 miles was won by Lord Wilton’s Bucephalus, while the 4 mile Plate went to Cockspinner for Mr Eyre. By 1824 the meeting had extended to three days from Tuesday 5th to Thursday 7th October, and Gold and Silver Cups were firmly established events. The Gold Cup, over 4 miles, was won by Mr Mytton’s Whittington who beat Mr J Roger’s Sir Edward, while the Silver Cup, over 2 miles, went to Mr E Hughes’s Glanhafron. However, interest in the meeting began to wane in the middle of the 19th century. At the meeting on Thursday 9th October 1856 only 5 contested the Plas Power Stakes which was won by Coal Black Rose, while just 6 ran in the Brynnypis Handicap won by Janet Pride. The end of the meeting fared no better when a disappointing field of 3 competed for the Gold Cup in which Surgeon General was victorious. The racecourse was ideally placed close to the railway station; it was circular with a mile circumference and just a 2 furlong, uphill run-in. The final meeting took place on Friday 20th October 1876, although after this date meetings for half-breds and galloways were still being organised into the early part of the 20th century.
Lord Wilton, Sir Watkin Wynn, Sir Thomas Stanley
Monday 6th to Tuesday 7th October 1806
Wrexham Subscription Plate over 2 miles
1. Bucephalus owned by Lord Wilton
Wrexham Subscription Plate over 4 miles
1. Cockspinner owned by Mr Eyre
Tuesday 5th October to Thursday 7th October 1824
Wrexham Gold Cup over 4 miles
1. Whittington owned by Mr Mytton
2. Sir Edward owned by Mr J Rogers
Wrexham Silver Cup over 2 miles
1. Glanhafron owned by Mr E Hughes
Wrexham Town Subscription Purse over 2 miles
1. Sir Edward owned by Mr Rogers
2. Alecto owned by Mr Barrow
3. Aimwell owned by Sir T Stanley
James Whyte’s History of the British Turf notes that racing first took place at Wrexham in 1806 and racing usually consisted of a two day meeting at the start of October. Whyte records the October 1839 races as:-
The Byrn-y-Pys Stakes over a mile;
Wrexham Gold Cup over 3 miles;
The Principality Stakes over 4 furlongs;
The Wynnstay Stakes over 2 miles;
The Clerk of the Course at this time was J V Mitchell
I am grateful to Ordnance Survey (© Crown Copyright) for permission to use the map shown below.
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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
