Chester Racecourse famous for its attachment with ancient times
Chester Racecourse, one of the oldest racecourses in United Kingdom, also famous by the name of Roodee, is still being used for horse racing events. The course is owned by the Chester Race Company Ltd.
This historic horse racing course is located in Chester, a country town situated in Cheshire, United Kingdom.
Chester Racecourse is a flat course, well known for being the smallest racecourse of United Kingdom. It covers a distance of 1 mile and 1 furlong which is approximately 1.8 km.
This racecourse is located in Chester, lying on the River Dee.
In Roman times, this racecourse was beneath water, as a rocky pool filled with seawater.
From 5th to 15th century, Chester was used for the reception and departure of materials and goods moved by sea. Later on as the sea level decreased, a land was formed, named as Rodee, which means “island of the cross” and a Racecourse
was made on it.
Chester Racecourse eventually became popular for the numerous events that took place here.
One of them was the fist fight between the rival gaolers from the castle to settle their differences.
In 1533 a very brutal football match was banned.
It was used to settle disputes between neighboring towns, famous by the name of Goteddsday football match and in 1539 it was replaced by horse racing.
This racecourse is associated with many historical and ancient events, before the course of the water changed. Many people could easily see the matches free of cost, from the ancient city walls. These walls were used by Romans for navigation purposes during
trading.
During the rule of Lord Mayor Henry Gee VIII, the very first horse racing event was organised on the 9th of February, 1539. His name, Gee-Gee, was later on used as nicknames for the horses.
Matches were scheduled on Tuesdays only until 1609, and then the races were held on the 23rd of April which is St George’s Day.
In 1744, the famous Grosvenor family presented the reward of a gold cup, which was known by the name of Grosvenor Gold Cup and later on the solid gold cup was converted to silver.
After that the May Festival was introduced, in the year 1766, Chester Cup’s predecessor, the Tradesmen’s Cup Race was introduced in 1824.
In 1817, proper grandstands were formed for the spectators, before that the course was nothing but an open field.
In 1985 the stands were destroyed in a fire, which was set by an arsonist. These stands were previously rebuilt in the year 1899 till 1990.
In 1897, entrance fee was introduced as earlier no admission fee was paid by the spectators for the matches.
There are numerous horse racing events taking place in present time.
These notable race are mainly stakes races, including Huxley Stakes, Earl Grosvenor Stakes, Dee Stakes, Ormonde Stakes, City Plate Stakes, City Wall Stakes, Queensferry Stakes, Chester Stakes, Henry Gee Stakes.
Apart from the stakes races, Chester Cup, Cheshire Oaks and Chester Vase events are also scheduled on this track.
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