Earliest meeting: Wednesday 30th March 1842
Final meeting: Thursday 17th April 1845
The North Yorkshire stately home of Castle Howard, some 15 miles north of York, is a private residence and has been the home of the Howard family for over 300 years. Although Castle Howard is not a true castle, it is a country house built on the site of a former military castle. The building of Castle Howard began in 1699 and was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh, although it took more than 100 years to complete. The house is built in a large estate covering over 13 thousand acres. In 1845 the estate was served by its own railway station and about this time steeplechases were run on the estate on a 2 mile course located just half a mile from the House. The first meeting was organised by Mr Coulson, the owner of the Castle Howard Inn, and was staged on Wednesday 30th March 1842. The feature race was the Castle Howard Sweepstakes over 4 miles with 11 runners. It was won by Sir Anthony, owned by Mr R Rowley and ridden by his son. Racing continued for the next 3 years with meetings in 1843 and on Tuesday 12th March 1844, followed by a final meeting on Thursday 17thApril 1845.
The ‘County History of Yorkshire’ records that in the years just after 1839 ‘there was chasing now and again at Leeds, York, Tadcaster and Castle Howard’. The article shown below is from The Era and gives the results from Castle Howard Steeplechases held on Monday 20th March 1843, and is provided courtesy of the British Newspaper Archive Online.
Wednesday 30th March 1842
Castle Howard Sweepstakes over 4 miles
1. Sir Anthony, chestnut gelding owned by Mr R Rowley
2. Napoleon-le-Grand, bay gelding owned by Mr J Robson
3. Aggriever, brown gelding owned by Mr Johnson
Betting: 3/1 Napoleon-le-Grand, 4/1 Muslin, 9/2 Sharp Gelding, 5/1 Sir Anthony, 6/1 Bar
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
