Page 22 - Jigsaw November 2021

A GLANCE AT THE PAST
Horseracing in Thrapston? Apparently so...
If you ever think about horseracing in Northamptonshire, Towcester would be number one in a list of courses, possibly with Northampton a distant second place. The Racecourse open space area was the venue
for racing in Northampton at the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th Century. The picture dated 1896 is from “Life in Old Northampton” produced by the Library Service in 1975. Maybe at the end of this short list would be Thrapston Racecourse and with good reason; the last recorded meeting took place on Wednesday 14th April 1868.
The earliest meeting in Thrapston I have found was advertised in the Stamford Mercury on Thursday 2nd August 1739 when it was announced that “On Thursday 23rd August, will be run for at Thrapston a purse of £5 by any horse, mare or gelding that never won the value of £10 at any one time. The race will be the best of three four-mile heats, entrance fee being 7s 6d in advance or double at the start.”
I cannot find any other recorded meeting for the next 100 years, although there is a probability that some meetings did take place.
There were more regular race meetings towards the middle of the 19th century. The first of these was on Monday 13th April 1840 on a one-mile circuit on the Three Hills Meadows beside the River, said to
be “as level as a bowling green”. The Fitzwilliam Hunt supported the meeting, which was well patronised by spectators on both sides of the river. The first race was between Mr Dunkley’s brown gelding and Mr George Ivens horse Minute, the former winning. This was
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followed by a sweepstake over three heats, again won by Mr Dunkley. The meeting was repeated the next year with a similar format. At the end of racing, the town barber, Mr Sharp, challenged the taylor, Mr Page, to a race over 100 yards, stating that he could run quicker than Mr Page’s pony over the distance. Predictably, the pony lead until just before the winning post, when
it was distracted by a cabbage, thus handing victory to Mr Sharp. At the 1841 meeting, the placed runners in the Thrapston Trader’s Stakes
were: 1st The Queen, owner Mr Lewis Abbott; 2nd Fanny, owner Mr G Barber; 3rd Musician, owner Mr Corley.
The meetings did not run for many years, the last one recorded happening
in April 1868, where various horse and pony races were held. Called the Thrapston Steeplechases, they were watched by a large crowd. The races included a Farmer’s Race, Thrapston Trader’s Race, an Open Hunters Race, the Coronation Stakes and a Pony Race.
Pony races were included in the annual Thrapston athletics sports which began in 1876. In 1877 “Harkaway”, owned by Mr Smith, won the one-