Earliest meeting: Thursday 10th July 1729
Final meeting: Friday 17th July 1795
The Gloucestershire town of Tetbury is surrounded by beautiful Cotswold countryside. It sits on the site of an ancient hill fort where an Anglo-Saxon Monastery once stood in the late 7th century. John Cheny's early Racing Calendar of 1729 recorded a two-day meeting in July 1729, while the ‘Historical List of Horse-Matches run in 1751’ recorded that a two day race meeting, spread over three days from Thursday 4th to Saturday 6th July 1751, took place on Tetbury Common. On the opening day the 4 mile Purse was won by Lord Chadworth’s White Stockings, while two days later Mr Martindale’s Gustavus got the better of Cartouche, Lancashire and Princess of Wales to land the £50 Purse. Racing continued intermittently for the next 40 years until a final two day meeting took place on Thursday 16th and Friday 17th July 1795. On the first day the 4 mile Plate went to Mr Jones’s Brandy Nan, while on the concluding day the 2 mile Handicap was won by Mr R R Berkeley’s King Bladud.
Thursday 10th July 1729
Tetbury £25 Purse
1. GANDER, grey horse owned by Mr Woodman 1 1
2. LADY THIGH, brown mare owned by Mr Boot 2 2
3. PLOWMAN, grey gelding owned by Mr Aldridge 3 3
4. SMILING MOLLY, bay mare owned by Mr Figg distanced
Friday 11th July 1729
Tetbury £10 Purse for Galloways
1. PEGGY GRIEVES ME, bay mare owned by Mr Boot 1 1
2. CREEPING KATE, chestnut mare owned by Mr Neal 2 2
Thursday 4th July 1751
Tetbury 4 mile Purse
1. White Stockings, a chestnut gelding owned by Lord Chadworth
2. Tawney, a brown horse owned by Horseley
3. Bold Hercules, a chestnut gelding owned by Mr Brooks
4. Flora, a bay mare owned by Lord Wenman
5. Why Not, a black horse owned by Lord Onslow
Saturday 6th July 1751
Tetbury £50 Purse
1. Gustavus, a bay horse owned by Mr Martindale
2. Cartouche, a chestnut horse owned by Lord Craven
3. Lancashire, a chestnut mare owned by Mr Cherrington
4. Princess of Wales, a grey mare owned by Velters Cornwall
15th and 16th July 1762
Tetbury 2 mile Purse
1. Render owned by Honorable Mr Howe
2. Americus owned by Mr Aldridge
3. Unnamed horse owned by Mr Buckland
Tetbury 4 mile Stakes
1. Newcomb owned by Mr Aldridge
2. Flora owned by Mr Pengree
3. Unnamed colt owned by Lord Weymouth
John Cary (1754-1835) was an English cartographer who published his atlas, The New and Correct English Atlas, in 1787. In 1794 he was commissioned by the Postmaster General to survey all English roads. The map shown below is an extract from his 1794 work.
After a prolonged spell without a meeting, racing was reintroduced in 1881 and lasted for a further 3 years. The final meeting took place on 20th March 1884.
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
