Horse racing is the second largest spectator sport in Great Britain, and one of the longest established, with a history dating back many centuries. According to a report by the British Horseracing Authority it generates £3.39 billion total direct and indirect expenditure in the British economy, of which £1.05 Billion is from core racing industry expenditure and the major horse racing events such as Royal Ascot and Cheltenham Festival are important dates in the British and international sporting and society calendar.
Leith is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith.
The Royal Company of Archers, The King's Bodyguard for Scotland, is a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's bodyguard in Scotland—a role it has performed since 1822 during the reign of King George IV when the company provided a personal bodyguard to the King on his visit to Scotland. It is currently known as the King's Bodyguard for Scotland or, more often and colloquially, The Royal Company. It is located in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The Royal Company of Archers has a long history in Scotland as a body that celebrated both the recreation and talent of local archers. As a body established by the Monarch, the company has a long history of unique prizes, influential supporters, and ceremonial roles. It has an associated charity, the Royal Company of Archers Charitable Trust, dedicated to helping disadvantaged individuals with their health and wellbeing in Scotland.
York Racecourse is a horse racing venue in York, North Yorkshire, England. It is the third biggest racecourse in Britain in terms of total prize money offered, and second behind Ascot in prize money offered per meeting. It attracts around 350,000 racegoers per year and stages three of the UK's 36 annual Group 1 races – the Juddmonte International Stakes, the Nunthorpe Stakes and the Yorkshire Oaks.
Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of British horseracing and is home to the largest cluster of training yards in the country and many key horse racing organisations, including Tattersalls, the National Horseracing Museum and the National Stud. Newmarket hosts two of the country's five Classic Races – the 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas, and numerous other Group races. In total, it hosts 9 of British racing's 36 annual Group 1 races.
Newcastle Racecourse is a horse racing course located at Gosforth Park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, owned by Arena Racing Company. It stages both flat and National Hunt racing, with its biggest meeting being the Northumberland Plate held annually in June.
The Craven Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket in mid-April.
The Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway was an early railway built to convey coal from pits in the vicinity of Dalkeith into the capital. It was a horse-operated line, with a terminus at St Leonards on the south side of Arthur's Seat.
Musselburgh Racecourse is a horse racing venue located in the Millhill area of Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland, UK, close to the River Esk. It is the second biggest racecourse in Scotland and is the fourteenth biggest in the UK. In 2016, Musselburgh staged 28 fixtures. It was officially known as "Edinburgh Racecourse", and referred to as such in the English press, until the beginning of 1996 but was widely referred to as "Musselburgh" in Scotland long before that and was widely referred to as Musselburgh in the racing pages of Scottish newspapers.
Salisbury Racecourse is a flat racecourse in the United Kingdom featuring thoroughbred horse racing, 3 miles (5 km) southwest of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. Fifteen race meetings a year are held there between early May and mid-October.
Marske was a Thoroughbred racehorse, best known as siring the great Eclipse.
Horseracing in Scotland is a popular spectator sport, with a history dating back over 900 years. There are currently five operating racecourses in Scotland - one exclusively for flat racing, two exclusively for jump racing and two mixed. Between them they held one hundred and three race meetings in 2014. The main National Hunt meeting held is the Scottish Grand National meeting at Ayr each April, and the main Flat meeting is the Ayr Gold Cup Festival, at the same course each September.
Prince Leopold (1813–1817) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and winner of the 1816 Epsom Derby. Prince Leopold was bred by the Duke of York and raced as a three and four-year-old. The bay colt had an unruly temperament, and was castrated at the end of the 1817 racing season in an attempt to improve his behavior, but he died shortly after the procedure.
Sir Thomas was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. In a career that lasted from October 1787 to May 1790 he ran thirteen or fourteen times and won nine or ten races. In 1788 he became the first horse owned by a member of the British royal family to win The Derby, having been bought as a two-year-old by the Prince of Wales who later became King George IV. Following his win in the Derby, Sir Thomas raced in the Prince's ownership with some success until 1790.
Grey Momus was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from August 1837 to 1839 he competed twenty-one times and won fourteen races. Grey Momus first attracted attention as a two-year-old when he recorded two impressive victories at Goodwood in August. In the following year he won seven times from nine starts, taking two of the year's biggest races, the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Gold Cup at Ascot. Grey Momus won one competitive race and took three walkovers in 1839 before being retired. He was exported to stand as a stallion in Germany, where he had some success as a sire of winners.
Powderhall Stadium, formerly the Powderhall Grounds, was a multi-sports facility overlooking the Water of Leith on Beaverhall Road, in the Powderhall (Broughton) area of northern Edinburgh, Scotland. It opened in January 1870 at the height of professional pedestrianism and was modelled on the stadium at Stamford Bridge in London. It hosted professional sprint races, track and field athletics, including the Scottish Amateur Athletics Championships on a number of occasions, professional football, international rugby, cycling, and dog races as well as boxing, quoits and pigeon shooting. For 100 years it hosted the Powderhall Sprint, the most famous professional sprint handicap in the world. With the decline of pedestrianism as a spectator sport in the 1920s it was converted to a greyhound stadium, hosting the Scottish Grand National for over sixty five years, and it also hosted professional speedway. The stadium finally closed in 1995 and the site is now a housing estate.
Apology (1871–1888) was a British Thoroughbred racemare who was the third winner of the Fillies' Triple Crown, winning The Oaks, 1,000 Guineas Stakes and St. Leger Stakes in 1874. Apology was bred and owned by the Reverend John William King, the vicar of Ashby de la Launde, whose ownership of the mare caused a minor scandal in the Church of England after Apology won the St. Leger Stakes. King ultimately had to resign his clerical appointments due to the scandal and died shortly thereafter of a chronic illness. Apology raced until she was five years old, winning the Ascot Gold Cup in 1876. She was retired from racing at the end of 1876 to become a broodmare initially for the widow of John King, and then for Clare Vyner. Apology was euthanised in 1888 after an extended illness.
Events from the year 1816 in Scotland.
Events from the year 1808 in Scotland.
