Hurst Park Racecourse was a

racecourse A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

Moulsey Hurst Moulsey Hurst is in West Molesey, Surrey on the south bank of the River Thames above Molesey Lock. It is one of England's oldest sporting venues and was used in the 18th and 19th centuries for cricket, boxing, prizefighting and other sports. T ...

West Molesey Molesey is a district of two twin towns, East Molesey and West Molesey, in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, England, and is situated on the south bank of the River Thames. East and West Molesey share a high street, and there is a second retai ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, near the River Thames. It was first laid out in 1890 and held its last race in 1962. There was racing at nearby

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria Canada * Hampton, New Brunswick *Ha ...

for many years until 1887. The first meeting at Hurst Park was a jumping fixture on 19 March 1890. The opening race was the Hurst Park Cup, worth £199, over two miles. It was won by Mr. Dougall's Sir Benedict, who also rode it. The first flat meeting was held on 25 March 1891. The Inauguration Plate of £188, over six furlongs, was the first race; it was won by Ready, ridden by W. Wood. The racecourse was the scene of an arson attack by

Kitty Marion Kitty Marion 12 March 1871 – 9 October 1944) was born Katherina Maria Schäfer in Germany. She emigrated to London in 1886 when she was fifteen, and she grew to minor prominence when she sang in music halls throughout the United Kingdom during ...

and

Clara Elizabeth Giveen Clara Elizabeth Giveen, also known as Betty Giveen, later Mrs Betty Brewster (1887–1967) was a British suffragette. She was known for an arson attack on the grandstand at the Hurst Park Racecourse in 1913, and for her "Prisoners (Temporary Dis ...

. The two suffragettes were establishing a revenge attack following the death of

Emily Davison Emily Wilding Davison (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) was an English suffragette who fought for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, votes for women in Britain in the early twentieth century. A member of the Women's Social and Polit ...

at the Derby in 1913. Hurst Park's most notable flat race was the Victoria Cup, a handicap over seven furlongs, which transferred to Ascot after the closure of Hurst Park. The Triumph Hurdle, over two miles for four year olds, was run here from 1939 until the course closed. It was then run at the Cheltenham Festival in March. The last race to be held here was the Byfleet Stakes, the 4.30 on Wednesday 10 October 1962, was won by the 11/8 favourite Anassa.

Mansfield Town F.C. Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ye ...

bought one of the grandstands for later use as the West Stand at

Field Mill Field Mill, currently known as One Call Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a Football pitch, football ground in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England, and the home of Mansfield Town F.C., Mansfield Town Football Club. It is the oldest ground in ...

and

Ascot Racecourse Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...

purchased 20 acres of turf which was used to lay down Ascot's new

National Hunt racing In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

course. Hurst Park was a right-handed oval of 1 mile 3 furlongs, with a home straight of about four furlongs. The five furlongs course was straight, but races over six and seven furlongs had a slight, left-handed elbow. The inner steeplechase course was sharp, with eight fences, five down the back straight, including the water jump, and three in the home straight. On the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

companies of 1st London Division of the Territorial Army mobilised at Hurst Park Racecourse before proceeding to France to join the British Expeditionary Force. In October 1941 "A" Company of 70th Battalion The

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...

(Duke of Cambridge's Own) moved into Hurst Park Racecourse for several months before moving to

Hounslow Barracks Cavalry Barracks is a former British Army installation located north of Hounslow Heath in Hounslow, west London. Hounslow was one of 40 new barracks established around the country in the wake of the French Revolution, to guard against the dual t ...

with the rest of the Battalion. Some of the racecourse was kept as public access to the riverside Hurst Park, with the remainder sold for the building of the present varied height residential housing in 1962. In the summer of 2018 the site of the course's pre-parade ring became temporarily visible due to the dry conditions caused by the

2018 British Isles heat wave The 2018 Britain and Ireland heat wave was a period of unusually hot weather that took place in June, July and August. It caused widespread drought, hosepipe bans, crop failures, and a number of wildfires. These wildfires worst affected northern ...

References

Defunct horse racing venues in England Defunct sports venues in Surrey 1962 disestablishments in England 1890 establishments in England Sports venues completed in 1890 Borough of Elmbridge {{England-sports-venue-stub