NOBBER RACECOURSE

Aintree racecourse;Ascot;Ayr;Bangor;Bath;Beverley;Brighton;Carlisle;Cartmel;Catterick;Cheltenham Festival;Chepstow;Chester;Doncaster St Leger;Epsom Derby;Exeter racecourse;Fakenham;Folkestone;Fontwell Park;Glorious Goodwood;Hamilton Park;Haydock Park;Hereford Racecourse;Hexham;Huntingdon;Kelso;Kempton Park;Leicester;Lingfield;Ludlow;Market Rasen;Musselburgh;Newbury Racecourse;Newcastle;Newmarket;Newton Abbot;Nottingham;Perth;Plumpton;Pontefract Racecourse;Redcar;Ripon;Salisbury;Sandown Park;Sedgefield;Southwell;Stratford;Taunton;Thirsk;Towcester;Uttoxeter;Warwick;Wetherby;Wincanton;Windsor;Wolverhampton;Worcester;Yarmouth;York Ebor

Earliest meeting: Monday 30th September 1754
Final meeting: Tuesday 1st October 1754
The village of Nobber, 12 miles north of Navan, is built close to the River Dee in County Meath and has always been a place of some importance because of its location between the ports of Dundalk and Drogheda. Even in Norman times there was a settlement in Nobber and its very name means ‘the work’ which is making reference to the moat around a Norman Castle. On the outskirts of Nobber is Shields and it is here that racing took place in the mid-1700s. The Racing Calendar first recorded racing at Shields in 1754 when a 2 day meeting was staged on Monday 30th September and Tuesday 1st October 1754. The principal race on Monday was won by Mr Henry Wildridge’s Mouse, while on the following day the £30 Purse saw Pettycoat Tight beat Bully and Darcling.

This racecourse is covered in Volume 4 of Racecourses Here Today and Gone Tomorrow. Ordering details shown below.
Local Patrons Mr Burrows, Henry Wildridge
Principal Races Shields £20 Give and Take, Nobber £30 Purse

30th September 1754

Shields £20 Give and Take
1. Mouse, horse owned by Mr Henry Wildridge
2. Dapper, chestnut owned by Mr Burrows
3. Andrew, bay horse owned by Mr Smyth
4. Poppet, brown horse owned by Mr Howard

1st October 1754

Nobber £30 Purse
1. Pettycoat Tight, bay mare owned by Mr Burrows
2. Bully, gelding owned by Mr Henry Wildridge
3. Durcling, bay gelding owned by Mr Sanderson

The final meeting took place on Tuesday 1st October 1754.
Course today On the outskirts of the village at Shields.
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

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.
ORDER FORM
Download an order form
  Quantity Cost
Volume 1 North of Hatfield £19.99 + £4 postage    
Volume 2 South of Hatfield £14.99 + £3 postage    
Volume 3 Wales & Scotland £9.99 + £3 postage    
Volume 4 Ireland £9.99 + £3 postage    
Volumes 1 - 4 £54.96 + £5 postage    
Postage & Packaging    
Total    
Email order form to johnwslusar@gmail.com