Horse racing venue in Scottish Borders, Scotland, UK
55°36′49.01″N
2°25′52.02″W
/
55.6136139°N 2.4311167°W
/
55.6136139; -2.4311167
Kelso Racecourse
is a
thoroughbred horse racing
venue located in
Kelso
,
Scotland
. It is frequently described as "Britain's Friendliest Racecourse". It was voted the Best Small Course in Scotland and the North of England in 2007, 2012 and 2014 by the Racegoers Club.
[1]
In addition to staging Scotland's most valuable hurdle race, the
Morebattle Hurdle
, Kelso stages a comparatively high number of Class 1, 2 & 3 races over jumps.
History
[
edit
]
Horse racing in the Kelso area is recorded to have taken place sporadically since 1734 at Caverton Edge, five miles from the town; from 1760 meetings were held there regularly. The meetings at Kelso and Edinburgh were the only ones listed for Scotland in the first annual edition of Weatherby's
Racing Calendar
in 1773. The annual October meeting for 1793 was extended to six consecutive days and included the staging by the Caledonian Hunt of a prestigious King's Plate race of 100 guineas. Something of a "fiasco" occurred in 1803 when only three horses contested a four race meeting held over four days and each race was a
walkover
. In 1805 the first race was a walkover by a horse named Honest Starling, who then went on to beat sole rival Brandon for the King's Plate and won two four mile heats against the same rival on the third day. The prize of a Gold Cup was introduced for the frst time in 1813. Owners tended to appreciate a trophy to show off more than the prize money, as they were mostly landed gentry of substantial means.
[2]
: 116?127
Races were also later held at Blakelaw but for only two years from 1821. In 1822,
The Sporting Magazine
reported that the
Duke of Roxburghe
had prepared land at Berry Moss (now Berrymoss) for a horse racing course.
[3]
The
foundation stone
of the stand at the current racetrack at Berrymoss was laid on the 12 July 1822 and the first fixture took place on 16 April 1823. It was initially known as the
Duke's Course
.
[4]
A local historian of the time noted the land on which the course was laid out was formerly boggy and imperfectly drained. A race for farmers' horses was introduced in 1828 and good-sized fields turned out for two such races in 1830.
[2]
: 130?133
The
6th Duke of Roxburghe
gave permission for the racecourse to host pigeon shooting in December 1868; the event was known as the Great Border Pigeon Handicap. The joint winners each killed seven birds.
[5]
Kelso races were held under
Jockey Club
rules for
flat racing
. In 1883, the United Border Hunt moved to the course, fences for steeplechasing were built and
National Hunt
racing began. The course was extended over fields of the Hendershyde Park Estate to accommodate three of the steeplechase fences; hurdle races were run over the original track. In 1888 races at Kelso under Jockey Club rules ceased.
[2]
: 141?142
A paddock stand was erected in 1912.
[2]
: 132
On 5 April 1913
suffragettes
attempted to set fire to the stand but no damage resulted.
[6]
Among those arrested in connection with the incident were
Edith Hudson
,
Arabella Scott
and
Elizabeth and Agnes Thomson
.
[7]
They were all imprisoned at
Calton jail
and went on hunger strike together.
[8]
[9]
Scott was released under the
Cat and Mouse Act
on 24 May.
[8]
New stands were erected in the members' enclosure in 1930.
[2]
: 132
The course and facilities were requisitioned for military use in the Second World War.
[2]
: 142
A new Members' Bar building was opened in 1966 in time for the early March meeting.
[10]
In 2018?19, Kelso became the first racecourse in Scotland to use artificial lighting to encourage the growth of grass on the course during the Winter months.
[11]
In 2022 and 2023 Kelso celebrated its bicentennial season which included a bicentennial race day on 17 April 2023 at which
The Princess Royal
was present.
[12]
Layout
[
edit
]
Kelso consists of two sharp, left-handed tracks - a
chase
track of 1 mile 600 yards and a
hurdle
course of 1 mile 330 yards. The course also has a punishing uphill run-in of 2
furlongs
.
[13]
Grandstands
[
edit
]
The classical style grandstand building was erected in 1822, though it was designed in 1778 by York-based architect
John Carr
(1723?1807). The building, incorporating a private viewing area for the races' patron the
Duke of Roxburghe
, remains largely unchanged since its construction. In 2011 it was protected by
Historic Environment Scotland
as a
category A listed building
, as "the finest example of its building type in Scotland and a particularly rare and important survival in a wider UK context."
[14]
The Tweedie Stand is named for Reg and Bettie Tweedie. Reg was a long-time chairman of Kelso Racecourse.
[15]
Notable races
[
edit
]
One notable
steeplechase
is the King's Own Challenge Cup, named after the
King's Own Scottish Borderers
who were based nearby.
[13]
The longest established race still run at Kelso is a steeplechase for the Buccleuch Cup, founded in 1885 for maiden hunters.
[16]
This race was won by Teal in 1951, who went on to win the
1952 Grand National
under new ownership.
[2]
: 139
Management
[
edit
]
Kelso Racecourse is under the management of Kelso Races Limited, a
not-for-profit
private company.
[17]
Its current Managing Director is Jonathan Garratt and its Chairman is Mark Hunter. The company was incorporated on 17 March 1928 as The United Border Hunt Steeplechases (Kelso) Limited. The change of name was registered with Companies House on 18 December 1951.
[18]
Golf course
[
edit
]
The golf course partially laid out within the race course was originally a nine-hole course designed by
Ben Sayers
, then extended and redesigned by
James Braid
in 1930, and made into 18 holes in 1980. Some holes cross the race course. It is the home of Kelso Golf Club.
[19]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Racegoers Club Awards
Archived
2013-04-13 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Fairfax-Blakeborough, John (1973). "Kelso".
Northern Turf History
. Vol. IV. History of Horse Racing in Scotland. J Fairfax-Blakeborough &
J A Allen & Co
.
ISBN
0950261505
– via
Internet Archive
.
- ^
"Sporting magazine n. s., v. 10 (Apr. -Sept. 1822)"
.
HathiTrust
. p. 47
. Retrieved
3 March
2024
.
- ^
Haig, James (1825),
A Topographical and Historical Account of the Town of Kelso, and of the Town and Castle of Roxburgh
, Edinburgh: John Fairbairn, p.
137
.
- ^
"Great Border Pigeon Match on Kelso Racecourse"
.
Teviotdale Record and Jedburgh Advertiser
. No. 690. 19 December 1868. p. 5
. Retrieved
5 March
2024
– via
British Newspaper Archive
.
- ^
"Caught in the act. Attempt to fire stand on Kelso Racecourse"
.
Western Mail
. No. 28, 630. 7 April 1913. p. 5
. Retrieved
5 March
2024
– via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^
"Scotland's forgotten sisters"
. Retrieved
15 May
2018
.
- ^
a
b
Leneman, Leah (1993).
Martyrs in our midst:Dundee, Perth and the forcible feeding of suffragettes
. University of Stirling Library: Abertay Historical Society. pp. 21?26.
ISBN
9780900019296
.
- ^
"Two million reasons why women should always use their vote"
.
Scotsman
. 14 December 2006
. Retrieved
22 February
2018
.
- ^
"(Captioned photograph)"
.
Evening Chronicle
. No. 27, 637. 28 February 1966. p. 11
. Retrieved
5 March
2024
– via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^
Knox, David (2 October 2019).
"Kelso groundstaff are in winner's enclosure ahead of Sunday's racing"
.
Peeblesshire News
. Retrieved
5 March
2024
.
- ^
"Princess Royal to unveil a stone plaque at Kelso Races Bicentenary Celebration"
.
Peeblesshire News
. 16 April 2023
. Retrieved
29 May
2023
.
- ^
a
b
White, John (2003).
Racecourses
. London: Collins. p. 98.
ISBN
0-00-716655-9
.
- ^
Historic Environment Scotland
.
"Kelso Racecourse, Grandstand (Category A Listed Building) (LB51742)"
. Retrieved
22 March
2019
.
- ^
"Party in the paddock at Kelso"
.
Southern Reporter
. 24 April 2017
. Retrieved
5 March
2024
.
- ^
"Buccleuch Cup"
.
issuu
. Weatherbys. 17 April 2023
. Retrieved
3 March
2024
.
- ^
"About"
.
kelso-races.co.uk
. Retrieved
4 March
2024
.
- ^
"Kelso Races Limited filing history"
.
find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk
. Retrieved
4 March
2024
.
- ^
"Kelso Golf Club"
.
www.kelsogolfclub.co.uk
. Retrieved
4 March
2024
.
External links
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]
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