Earliest meeting: Saturday 7th March 1868
Final meeting: Monday 14th April 1879
Racing is known to have taken place in the Streatham area of London since 1868, lasting for over 10 years. The earliest recorded meeting was on Saturday 7th March 1868 near Lonesome Farm. There is little evidence left today of the previous existence of a racecourse as it is buried beneath a sprawling housing estate. The Farm, owned by Edwin Ive, was taken over by Croyden Steeple Chase Committee in 1867 and they organised up to five two day meetings a year for the next 10 years. The meetings consisted of some flat races and some steeplechases, and there is evidence that these were run on separate courses. The prinicipal race was the Norbury Plate. Such was the popularity of the course that racegoers thronged in their thousands by train, and yet on the same train the horses travelled. Hence, there was a need for a slope at the junction so that the horses could embark. To this day the slope still exists. At the inaugural meeting the Handicap Steeplechase was won by Dunstiffnage from Bandoline and Queen Mab, while the Suburban Plate saw Gorsehawk beat Capability. The meeting on Thursday 14th March 1872 had a very European feel to it with Bonne Chance winning the Suburban Steeplechase, Bismarck the Streatham Chase and Madame Celeste the Hunters Plate. The racecourse was always popular with the ill-disciplined and that, in the end, was its downfall. The final meeting was held in 1879 and the races came to an untimely end when the Racecourse Licensing Act put a ban on racing within 10 miles of London. The final meeting took place on Monday 14th April 1879 when the concluding Hunters Flat race went to St Anthony from King Master.
Friday 8th October 1875
Norwood Stakes
1. Tennyson, aged horse ridden by Weedon
2. Merrymaker, aged horse ridden by Loates
3. Squinancywort, aged mare ridden by Skinner
Betting: 4/6 Madcap, 4/1 Tennyson, 5/1 Merrymaker
Many thanks to Richard English for this rare scan of a Streatham racecard from his local area.
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
