Earliest meeting: Friday 7th April 1865
Final meeting: Friday 9th April 1869
Alpheton is a small village 6 miles north of Sudbury in Suffolk. It is set in delightful countryside and has maintained a rural farming existence. On Friday 7th April 1865 the village launched its first race meeting near the Lion Inn, with the opening Hunter’s Stakes falling to Frank owned by Mr A King. Meetings continued annually and on Friday 3rd April 1868 a 3 mile racecourse was formed across 4 meadows adjacent to the Lion Inn. The farmland was owned by Mr Clements, Mr Bear and Mr Crown, and the course provided fair hunting ground and a fair test for steeplechasers. In the opening Hunters’ Stakes Mr Freestones King Tom beat Menagerie. The feature West Suffolk Stakes also went to King Tom. The meeting on Friday 9th April 1869 was the last meeting before the National Hunt Committee introduced new rules regarding enclosed meetings. The concluding Innkeeper’s Plate was won by Old Squire owned by Mr A R Jay. Meetings continued into the early part of the 20th century but by then were point to point meetings.

Friday 3rd April 1868
West Suffolk Stakes over 3 miles
1. King Tom, bay horse owned by Mr Freestone
2. Breechloader, chestnut horse owned by Mr Clements
3. Bad Luck, bay gelding owned by Mr White

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