Earliest meeting: April 1732
Final meeting: Thursday 3rd September 1807
The small North Yorkshire town of Boroughbridge is in the Harrogate district of the county. It lies on the River Ure just 16 miles north west of York, and is perfectly positioned close to the A1. The first recorded meeting in the town was in April 1732 on Common ground, although a better publicised 3 day meeting was staged from Tuesday 19th to Friday 22nd April 1757 when the Boroughbridge Plate, on the opening day, was won by Mr Smith’s Careless. The main race on the Wednesday was the 3 year old race over 2 miles which went to Mr Stanhope’s Short House, while on the concluding day the 4 mile race was won by Mr Hunt’s Poor Farmer. On Wednesday 28th August 1805 an important race for the Boroughbridge Gold Cup was hotly contested and won by Lord Strathmore’s Sir Peter colt, getting the better of Evander, Corkleg and Lord Darlington’s selection. The final 3 day meeting took place from Tuesday 1st to Thursday 3rd September 1807 when, on the opening day, the Plate was won by Mowbray owned by the Duke of Leeds. Details of the races on the second and third days are shown below, together with a newspaper article recording the finding of the Boroughbridge Gold Cup almost 150 years after it was contested. Races were planned for 1808, but no horses were declared.
Duke of Leeds, Duke of York, Reverend James Wilkinson, Sir Thomas Gascoigne, Sir W Vavasour, General Winmore, Sir William Dalston, Honorable J S Barry
Tuesday 19th,Wednesday 20th & Friday 22nd April 1757
Boroughbridge Plate over 4 miles
1. Careless owned by Mr Smith
Boroughbridge 3-year-old Plate over 2 miles
1. Short Hose owned by Mr Stanhope
Boroughbridge £50 Plate over 4 miles
1. Poor Farmer owned by Mr Hunt
12th to 14th October 1762
Boroughbridge 2 mile Purse
1. Bachelor owned by Sir William Dalston
2. Merry Tom owned by Mr Parker
3. Lady Legs owned by Mr Coates
Wednesday 2nd to Friday 4th October 1782
Boroughbridge 2 mile Plate
1. Laura owned by Mr Garforth
2. Fortitude owned by Mr Hutton
3. Contractor owned by Mr Addison
Fortitude was Evens favourite but was beaten by the 10/1 Laura.
Boroughbridge Maiden Plate over 4 miles
1. Hermit owned by Mr Hutchinson
2. Moses owned by Mr Barlow
3. Antagonist owned by Mr Stapleton
Boroughbridge Gold Cup winners over 3 miles
1804 Susan, bay filly owned by Mr Bowman
1806 Young Chariot, brown horse owned by Sir W Gerard
1807 Esther, brown filly owned by Mr William Fletcher
1. Mowbray owned by the Duke of Leeds
Boroughbridge £50 Plate over 2 miles
1. Unnamed chestnut colt by Star, owned by Mr Walker
I am grateful to Mark Elliott for the article below which is shown courtesy of the Knaresborough Post of Saturday 15th August 1953.
Thursday 3rd September 1807
Boroughbridge Gold Cup over 3 miles
1. Esther, brown filly owned by Mr William Fletcher
2. Priscilla, grey mare owned by Mr N Hodgson
3. Oran, chestnut colt owned by Sir John Lawson
4. Silvio, 3 year old owned by Mr Hutchinson
5. Unnamed chestnut filly by Hyacinthus, owned by Mr Garforth
6. Unnamed bay filly by St George, owned by Mr Cradock
Whilst races were planned for 1808, no horses were declared.
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
