History

In 1878, Wetherby races was taken over by a committee of local sportsmen from the local townspeople and after being refused permission to purchase the land and disgruntled by the increasing rent demands from the tenants of Wetherby Ings, it became apparent they would need to find a new course.

The current Racecourse is sited on land previously owned by The Montagu family of Ingmanthorpe Hall, the large Georgian House you can see from the Racecourse today.  The land was rented to the race committee and the first meeting was held on 30th March 1891.

The race committee set about making the Racecourse a much more ‘organised’ affair and from 1906 set about developing the course facilities which first included the construction of the ‘Bramham’ Grandstand, which is still standing today.  In 1920, the Wetherby Steeplechase Committee was formed and Wetherby Racecourse has since gone from strength to strength, eventually purchasing the land, and continuing to develop and improve the facilities for both racegoer and horsemen alike.

During the latter part of the 18th century steeplechases were being organised in many parts of the country and the popular local steeplechase was between Kirk Deighton Church and Walton Church, a distance of about three miles.  Rather fitting therefore that you can see Walton Church from Wetherby Racecourse today.   During the first half of the 19th century, horseracing became more and more popular and in 1842 Lord Leconfield was persuaded to allow Wetherby’s race meetings to be held at Wetherby Ings, now the site of Wetherby Golf Club.

The north bank of the River Wharfe has a long history of racing horses and it is there that the Wetherby story begins with the Vikings stabling and training their horses in nearby Follifoot and the Romans racing their Arab horses a few miles upstream at Netherby.  In the 17th century it is recorded that horse racing took place at nearby Clifford Moor and at Bramham Moor.