Earliest meeting: Friday 14th March 1856
Final meeting: Friday 14th March 1856
The Cambridgeshire village of Wansford, more grandly called Wansford-in-England, is located close to Peterborough and 8 miles south of Stamford. It is surrounded by beautiful open countryside which was perfect for hunting in past times. The village could call on the Cambridgeshire, Fitzwilliam and Burghley Hunt groups and certainly did so when hosting a race meeting on Friday 14th March 1856. The course was across 4 miles of open hunting ground in the vicinity of the village, with the card consisting of three races. The Welter Stakes reduced to a match in which Mr H Littler’s Cato won in a canter over Sybil Linnard, while the Selling Steeplechase saw Mr Bevill’s Perea Nena beat Master of Arts and Gerard. However, the principal race, the Wansford Sweepstake over 4 miles, was restricted to horses which had hunted with the Cambridgeshire or Fitzwilliam in that season, and was won by Mr Goodman’s Honeycomb. There are no records of further races taking place in the village. |
| This racecourse is covered in Volume 1 of Racecourses Here Today and Gone Tomorrow. Ordering details shown below. |
| Local Patrons |
Lord Burghersh, Captain Gay, Mr H H Fox (stewards) |
| Principal Races |
Wansford Sweepstake, Wansford Selling Steeplechase |
Friday 14th March 1856
Wansford Sweepstake over 4 miles
1. Honeycomb, aged horse owned by Mr Goodman
2. The Times, 5 year old owned by Mr Perceval
3. Juliana Berners, aged mare owned by Mr H Johnstone
4. Miss Collingwood, aged mare owned by Mr Jones
5. Merchand, aged horse owned by Lord Burghersh |
The only recorded meeting took place on Friday 14th March 1856. |
| Course today |
Over 4 miles of good hunting ground in the vicinity of the village. |
| 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 |
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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. |
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