Earliest meeting: Wednesday 3rd October 1792
Final meeting: Monday 21st August 1871
The Kent seaside town of Margate is in the Thanet region of the county, some 38 miles north east of Maidstone. The town was originally known as Meregate, but in the late 18th and 19th centuries, when already known as Margate, it held its own race meetings. The earliest record of racing was on Wednesday 3rd October 1792 on Margate Downs. Later a 2 day meeting on Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd September 1820 was also staged on Margate Downs when the opening Powell Stakes went to Mr Rich’s Woverman, while the Margate Plate was won by Tempest for Mr Ryan. An Ordinary was served at the York Hotel after racing. Racing continued until 1841 when meetings ceased for 22 years before a revival meeting was staged on Friday 18th September 1863, with the opening Margate Plate falling to Mr Hughes’ Real Gem. The course was at Shottendane Farm, within walking distance of the town centre and railway line, and a crowd in excess of 4000 attended. After a pleasant day of racing a dinner was held at the York Hotel. Racing continued successfully for the next 8 years until a final meeting on Monday 21st August 1871.

The earliest record of racing at Margate was a 3-day meeting on Margate Downs from Wednesday 3rd October to Friday 5th October 1792 with an Ordinary served at the George Inn at 1pm prior to racing each day. After this there is no further record of a formal meeting being held in the town until the early 1800s, although it is clear that horse races were an integral part of the 'rural sports on the cliffs' which were held annually.

Margate races were reintroduced in 1818 when a 3-day meeting was staged from 18th to 20th September 1818 on Dandelion Paddock, the course being about a mile in extent. A large variety of vehicles began assembling on 17th September and by noon the entire course was lined with 394 landaus, barouches, phaetons, curricles, tilburies, and a further 500 waggons, dennets and carts. Crowds flocked in from Canterbury, Deal and Dover, with every farmer within a 30-mile radius of Margate obliged to attend, swelling the crowd to at least 20,000. The opening race on the first day, the Hunters Sakes, was won by Mr Page's 6-year-old bay gelding Hap-Hazard, while the Ladies Race which followed went to Maid of Kent. Once racing had finished the assembled crowd prepared for the Race Ball, which began in the Assembly Rooms at 9.30pm and lasted until almost midnight. On the third day, 20th September 1818, the card was a disappointing one, with only 2 horses contesting the main race on the Dandelion Paddocks, which later became a first-class cricket ground to the west of Margate.

By 1820 Margate races had evolved into a more recognisable, important meeting well-able to match the races held at nearby Canterbury. The main meeting was held on 20th and 21st September 1820.
Wednesday 20th September 1820
Powell Stakes for 30 guineas over 2 miles
1. WOVERMANS, 5-year-old chestnut horse owned by Mr Rich
2. PARCHMENT, 3-year-old bay gelding owned by Mr Hill
3. MARKSMAN, aged bay gelding owned by Mr Brown
4. LACERTA, 4-year-old bay filly owned by Mr Palmer
5. SAPPHO, 5-year-old bay mare owned by Mr Glew
6. ZENITH, 4-year-old brey horse owned by Mr Knight
Margate £50 Plate over 2 miles
1. TEMPEST, 4-y-old grey horse owned by Mr Ryen
2. ENCHANTRESS, 6-y-old bay mare owned by Sir John Honywood (4th Baronet)
3. HAPHAZARD, aged bay gelding owned by Mr Page
4. CHANCE CARD, 6-y-old bay mare owned by Mr Hill
5. POOR KITTY, 4-y-old chestnut filly owned by Mr Lacy
6. WOVERMANS, 5-y-old chestnut horse owned by Mr Rich
Thursday 21st September 1820
Ladies £50 Plate over 2 miles
1. SAPPHO, 5-y-old bay mare owned by Mr Glew
2. WOVERMANS, 5-y-old chestnut mare owned by Mr Rich
3. LACERTA, 4-y-old bay filly owned by Mr Palmer
4. ENCHANTRESS,6-y-old bay mare owned by Sir John Honywood
5. TEMPEST, 4-y-old grey horse owned by Mr Ryen
6. POOR KITTY, 4-y-old chestnut filly owned by Mr Lacy
Margate 30 Guineas Hunters Handicap over 2 miles
1. HAPHAZARD, aged bay gelding owned by Mr Page
2. TALLY O, brown gelding owned by Mr Palmer
3. BLACK AND ALL BLACK, bay colt owned by Mr Bowcroft
4. ENGINEER, bay gelding owned by Mr Arnold
5. McGILLYCUDDY, bay mare owned by Mr Quilhampton
On Wednesday the Ordinary took place at Howe’s and was well-attended by 100 gentlemen who enjoyed a dinner which consisted of every delicacy of the season. Later, the Race Ball was deemed to be better and more respectable thatn any previus one, attended by distinguished guests Lord Say and Sele and the 4th Baronet, Sir John Honywood. A worrying footnote to the meeting was that a racecard was produced for Friday advertising a trotting match between two 3-year-old fillies, Prenomenon and Caroline, each the property of a gentleman. Wagers were laid but the card proved to be a hoax.

Friday 18th September 1863
The Ramsgate Plate over 1 ½ miles
1. Flippant, 3 year old owned by Mr Reeves
2. Peru, 4 year old owned by Mr Walker
3. Newfoundland, 3 year old owned by Mr Jorrocks

The final recorded meeting took place on Monday 21st August 1871.

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

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