{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022
The Pony Turf Club was a body which regulated the racing of horses of under 15 hands in the
United Kingdom
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from its foundation in 1923 until the early 1950s.
The club was founded by Major R G Alexander, and was officially recognised by the
Jockey Club
The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, amo ...
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
and during the 1930s pony races are recorded as being held throughout the South West of England, as well as at Portsmouth Park (Paulsgrove),
Worthing
Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...
,
Chelmsford
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Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe).
The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
br> Racing ceased at Northolt in 1940 and the racecourse in controversial circumstances did not reopen after the War.
In 1947 after a lapse of nearly seven years PTC racing restarted at the former National Hunt racecourses at Hawthorn Hill,
Maidenhead
Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...
,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
West Midlands
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Etymology
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. Further investment was made in a track at
Mallory Park
Mallory Park is a motor racing circuit situated in the village of Kirkby Mallory, just off the A47, between Leicester and Hinckley, in central England. Originally used for grass-track until 1955, a new, basically oval hard-surfaced course ...
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
, although this was never completed and the site was put to other use Racing briefly prospered and in 1949 the former jumping courses of Colwall Park and Newport joined the circuit. That year over sixty fixtures were planned at five venues; there were then over sixty training stables, nearly seventy jockeys and a further twenty licensed apprentices. The 60 ponies registered to race in March 1947 had increased in the following two years to nearly 600.
Lack of finance, however, had always been the sport's problem. Mallory Park never opened and Colwall Park and Newport did not race again after that year. As the number of ponies in training rapidly decreased so did the number of spectators. Hawthorn Hill held its last meeting in October 1951 to nearly empty stands. Shirley Park soldiered on up to November 1953. The Stewards of the Pony Turf Club announced there would be no further meetings the following January and the Club itself formally went into
liquidation
Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...
in 1956.
In the early 1960s, the Pony Racing Society was founded and held a few meetings; it was not recognised by the Jockey Club and soon failed.
In the early 60s the track was purchased by Sidney Barnett (my father), Rosser Chinn, and Morry and John Lipton. They ran a few races for two or three years then they sold the land to the Cadbury family and it was developed.