WOLVERHAMPTON |
Badges through the decades |
Brief History |
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| 1825 First recorded racing in the vicinity of Wolverhampton. This took place on the 15th and 16th August at Broad Meadows. It had previously been a marshy area but after significant drainage it became an ideal location for racing. It boasted both a grandstand and sufficient outbuildings so that, whatever your position in society, you had shelter from the elements. The main race of that first meeting was the Darlington Cup, over 3 miles, but Lord Darlington only managed the runners-up spot beaten by Euphrates. 1853 The Wolverhampton Hurdle took place and saw huge wagers with a horse called Doubt showing little doubt in rewarding his supporters. 1878 Racing ceases when the owner of the course, the Duke of Cleveland, sells the course to the Corporation. Locals bought some of the land and renamed the course West Park. However, the search began for a more suitable site for a racecourse to serve the people of Wolverhampton. 1887 The Dunstall Park Club Company is formed and works towards re-establishing a meeting at Wolverhampton on a 130 acre site it purchases. Robert Herman-Hodge becomes the first Director of the racecourse, a position he holds, on and off, for the next 43 years. Alexander Staveley-Hill is Chairman and holds the post until 1905. 1888The first meeting at Dunstall Park takes place on 13th August. 1933 The great hurdler Reynoldstown wins the Dunstall Hurdle on 13th March on his way to much greater successes. 1935 Gordon Richards achieves a remarkable 4 successes at the meeting held on 20th August.
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1949 Lord Willoughby de Broke becomes Chairman of the racecourse and holds the position until 1970, becoming President in 1971. John Verney, the Lord, was undoubtedly one of the most important people in the development of the racecourse and its prominence today. He lived to the ripe old age of 90 and died in May 1986. 1968 Wolverhampton nearly loses its fight to remain one of the 59 courses in the UK when a group of business men, led by a number of bookmakers, seek to buy the course for development purposes. Fortunately they fail and Wolverhampton goes from strength to strength. 1974 A famous day in the history of the racecourse, and not just because it was the first jump meeting of the season at the course, but 14th November was the day Princess Anne married. It was duly marked by a Royal winner, notably in the shape of Royal Mark. How conincidental that her husband was Mark Phillips? 1975 The Wolverhampton crowd witness a famous victory for Comedy of Errors who soon afterwards triumphed in the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle. 1993 The final National Hunt meeting takes place at Wolverhampton. 1993 The first all-weather flat meeting takes place on 27th December. |
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