Earliest meeting: Monday 1st April 1850
Final meeting: Tuesday 31st May 1870
The village of Elphin is in the north of the county of Roscommon 11 miles from Boyle and 9 miles from Carrick. In the middle of the 19th century it held a series of race meetings on the Caldrymoran course situated half a mile from the village. The opening 2 day meeting, which was widely reported, was staged on Easter Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd April 1850 when the principal race was the Elphin Plate. Meetings continued annually and on Monday 31st March 1862 Lord de Freyne was the chief Steward but witnessed his Coadjutor get beaten into second place in the opening Elphin Plate by Mr Kelly’s Wagtail. The next day he was again unlucky in the Elphin Sweepstake over 1 ½ miles when occupying runners-up spot with O’Connell behind Casandra. The next year tragedy struck at the May 1863 meeting and O’Connell was involved again. Coming to the last in the Steeplechase O’Connell and Miss McFarlane disputed the lead and both jumped the fence cleanly, but Miss McFarlane swerved and hit a grey horse which was inside the course head-on and died from her injuries. Although a permanent stand was erected for the 1869 meeting by John Sloane, crowds were down and the racing was described as moderate, although the Elphin Handicap was won by Resin-the Bow who beat Lady Gladstone. The last time results were reported in the paper was from the meeting on Tuesday 31st May 1870. |
| This racecourse is covered in Volume 4 of Racecourses Here Today and Gone Tomorrow. Ordering details shown below. |
| Local Patrons |
Lord de Freyne, Colonel French (Stewards) |
| Principal Races |
Elphin Sweepstake, Elphin Plate |
Tuesday 1st April 1862
Elphin Sweepstakes over 1 ½ miles
1. Casandra, black filly owned by Mr McCormack
2. O’Connell, brown gelding owned by Lord de Freyne
3. Diana, bay filly owned by Captain Beresford |
| The final meeting took place on Tuesday 31st May 1870. |
| Course today |
The four mile course was at Caldrymoran, half a mile from the village. |
| If you have photos, postcards, racecards. badges, newspaper cuttings or book references about the old course, or can provide a photo of how the ground on which the old racecourse stood looks today, then email johnwslusar@gmail.com |
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 |
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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 |
| Copies of the above books are only available by emailing johnwslusar@gmail.com stating your requirements, method of payment (cheque payable to W.Slusar) or Bank transfer, and the address where the book(s) should be sent. |
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