Earliest meeting: August 1819
Final meeting: Wednesday 3rd May 1876
The Herefordshire market town of Ledbury, on the River Leadon, lies to the east of Hereford which has, until recent times, had its own racecourse. Ledbury has a rich history and dates back from 690, although in the 1086 Domesday Book it was known as Liedeberge. The town held pony and Galloway races from 1819 to the 1840s, and towards the end of the 19th century and early 20th century held point to point meetings. The early 19th century meetings were held at Wall Hill Court in the vicinity of the present day Tennis Club, and a rare racecard from those early meetings has survived and is shown below. On the outskirts of Ledbury is Massington Lodge and it was in Massington that races under rules took place in the 1870s. The inaugural meeting was held on Thursday 18th April 1872 on an all grass course a mile round with a 2 furlong run-in. The Massington Stakes was the highlight of the card. Meetings continued for the next 4 years until a final meeting on Wednesday 3rd May 1876 when the opening Maiden Plate was won by Mr Wood’s Fuss beating Wild Duck. The feature Massington Stakes fell to Bob Nick and the concluding Match saw the 2/1 ON favourite Acrobat defeat 7/4 Petruchio.
Thursday 17th August 1826
Ledbury Sweepstakes of 10 sovereigns
1. RANDOM, chestnut gelding owned by Mr Clifton 3 1 1
2. DECEIVER, bay gelding owned by Mr New 1 2 2
3. SLOE, black mare owned by Mr Merrick 2 3 3
Ledbury Sweepstakes of 25 sovereigns over 1 mile
1. CRICKET, grey filly owned by Mr Ward 1 1
2. SOVEREIGN, bay gelding owned by Mr New 2 2
Ledbury Sweepstakes of 10 sovereigns over 1 mile
1. SYNON, chestnut gelding owned by M J Bosly 1 1
2. PUNCH, brown gelding owned by Mr Claslyon 3 2
3. Unnamed bay filly owned by Mr Holland 2 3
Handicap Sweepstakes of 10 sovereigns
1. SURVEYOR, brown gelding owned by Mr Jones 1 1
2. LATITAT, brown gelding owned by Mr Gregg 2 2
3. WAISALL, bay mare owned by Mr T Webb 3 3
Hunters Sweepstakes of 10 sovereigns
1. SYNON, chestnut gelding owned by Mr J Bosly
2. FRIENDLESS LASS owned by Mr Burton
The 1839 races, the 21st annual meeting held in Ledbury, were staged on Wednesday 11th September and took place on the estate owned by Mr Ward, immediately under the Wall Hill Courts. The weather was very good and the beauty of the surrounding scenery imparted a charm which even opponents of racing would have appreciated.
Wednesday 11th September 1839
Ledbury Pony race over a mile for a saddle and bridle, with entry 2 sovereigns
1. FAN, bay mare owned by Mr Brown 1 1
2. TALBOT, brown gelding owned by Mr Norris 2 2
3. THRILLER, grey mare owned by Mr Norman 3 3
Ledbury Galloway race for a saddle and bridle, 5 sovereigns entry, twice round the course
1. HARRIET WILSOM, grey mare owned by Mr Fawke 1 1
2. TOM TOUGH, brown gelding owned by Mr New 2 2
3. GALLOWAY, chestnut gelding owned by Mr West 3 3
4. JENNY WREN, brown mare owned by Mr Clark 4 4
Ledbury Hunters over 2 miles, with 15 sovereigns added
1. CRUIKSHANK, bay gelding owned by Mr Vever 2 1 1
2. YOUNG HARRY, bay gelding owned by Mr Herbert 3 2 2
3. FANNY ASHTON, bay mare owned by Mr Voice 1 0 0
Ledbury Race Committee race
1. SAM SLICK, chestnut gelding owned by Mr Tanner 3 1 1
2. JIM CROW, chestnut gelding owned by Mr Reece 2 2 0
3. LADY COBHAM, bay mare owned by Mr Higgins 1 3 0
Ledbury Hurdle over 2 miles and the distance, 10 sovereigns
1. CRUIKSHANK, bay gelding owned by Mr Vever 2 1 1
2. LADY COBHAM, bay mare owned by Mr Higgins 1 0 0
3. FANNY ASHTON, bay mare owned by Mr Voice 0 0 0
Wednesday 3rd May 1876
Massington Stakes over 3 miles
1. Bob Nick, aged horse owned by Mr George
2. The Doctor, aged horse owned by Mr Philpott
3. Burglar, aged horse owned by Mr Cobden
The final meeting took place on Wednesday 3rd May 1876.
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
