Earliest meeting: Monday 1st July 1754
Final meeting: Friday 8th October 1880
The Powys town of Llandrindod Wells, formerly in the old county of Radnorshire, was a spa town. However, back in the mid-1700s it boasted its own racecourse, with the Historical List of Horse Races and Matches reporting a 3 day meeting which took place from Monday 1st to Wednesday 3rd July 1754. On the opening day the £50 Hunters Stakes was won by the Honourable J S Barry’s Fire, defeating Whipper-In with ease, while the concluding race two days later saw Mr George’s Liberty beat I Will If I Can and the mare Sweepstakes. The next meeting followed 2 years later when the Hunters Prize was won by Mr George’s Spot on Monday 7th June 1756, and towards the end of the meeting Tyvy claimed the Weight for Age Handicap for Mr Crosby. After this brief initial spell of racing there was a lull in activity until the 1860s when racing returned to the town at Rock Dole Park on meadowland close to the river. This was an extended period of racing which lasted 20 years before the final meeting took place on Friday 8th October 1880. The Stewards’ Hunters Selling Hurdle saw Lemonade beat Miss Truelove and Who’s Who to land the prize for Mr H Cobden, while the Llandrindod Stakes went to Mr G H Bright’s Luckless, defeating Colonel Warburton’s Heath. Racing did continue in the town after this date, although the cards increasingly included Galloway and pony races.

Monday 1st - Wednesday 3rd July 1754

Monday 1st July 1754 Llandrindod Hunters Stakes for Fifty Pounds
1. Fire owned by Honourable J S Barry
2. Whipper-In owned by Mr Oakley
3. Black gelding owned by Mr Cornwall
4. Property owned by Mr Long
5. Cardigan owned by Mr Lloyd
6. Smiling Peggy owned by Sir H Howorth

Wednesday 3rd July 1754 Llandrindod Fifty Pounds Purse
1. Liberty owned by Mr George
2. I Will if I Can owned by Mr Free
3. Sweepstakes owned by Mr Oakley

Monday 7th June 1756 Llandrindod Hunters Prize
1. Spot owned by Mr Gorge
2. Johnny Armstrong owned by Mr Rumsley

Friday 11th June 1756 Llandrindod Weight for Age Purse
1. Tyvy owned by Mr Croby
2. Careless owned by Mr Allen

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

ISBN 978-0-9957632-0-3

652 pages

774 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-1-0

352 pages

400 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-2-7

180 pages

140 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-3-4

264 pages

235 former courses