Earliest meeting: Monday 11th April 1831
Final meeting: Tuesday 23rd March 1915
The county Limerick town of Kilmallock is located in the south of the county, close to the border with Cork, and boasts a Dominican Priory, the remains of a medieval wall and a castle. In the 19th and early 20th century it ran a successful programme of race meetings, one of the earliest of which took place on Monday 11th April 1831. The feature race, the Kilmallock £50 Cup, was won by Mr Eyre Evan’s Walton who just had to walk over to claim the prize. However, Tuesday’s card provided better sport when the Evans Cup saw Sir Andrew claim the prize for owner Mr Hussey after 2 heats. The meeting was marred by poor behaviour and there was so much concern the next year that 20 special constables were sworn in as a precaution. The three day steeplechase meeting finished on Monday 30th April 1832 when the Town Steeplechase Cup, over a demanding 4 mile course, was won by Mr Evan’s Walton, defeating Mr Russell’s Nimrod. This was a well deserved success given that Mr Eyre Evans sponsored the feature race which went to Mr Maddin’s chestnut mare, while the concluding Town Purse was won by Conundrum owned by Mr Hannon. Meetings continued on a regular basis throughout the 19th century, offering a mixed programme of flat and jump racing. However, at the start of the 20th century there was a general concern about the state of some racecourses, and this became the main topic of conversation at a meeting of the National Hunt Committee in 1904 when concerns were raised about safety issues at flat race meetings. There had been a significant increase in flat races, and decrease in steeplechases, which led the Committee to suggest the imposition of minimum prize money for flat races and the inspection of flat race courses. Kilmallock was inspected by newly appointed Irish Turf Club inspectors in March 1905 and the licence was withdrawn due to the poor condition of the course. The management reacted positively and made the necessary improvements to ensure racing continued. The final meeting took place on Tuesday 23rd March 1915. |
Monday 11th April 1831
Evans Cup over 2 miles
1. Sir Andrew, bay colt owned by Mr Hussey
2. Miss Gentle, brown filly owned by Mr Hannon
3. Don Juan, bay horse owned by Mr Gleeson |
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 |
