History of SEDGEFIELD Racecourse

Horse Racing has been taking place at Sedgefield from around 1732, with the first recorded meetings in 1846. The course itself was part of the Sands Hall Estate, home of the Ord family and known as the Melton of the North.

In 1804 Ralph Lambton formed a club based at the Hardwicke Arms and Sedgefield became the headquarters of the Ralph Lambton Hunt, whose meetings had originally taken place at Lambton Park .

Ralph Lambton was an ancestor of the Earls of Durham, and among original members of the club were Ralph Brandling, then owner of Gosforth Park , and Robert Surtees, father of RS Surtees, the creator of Jorrocks.

By the turn of the century FJ Bayles described Sedgefield as, `one of the very finest of good, sound thickly herbaged turf, never known to become deep or heavy in the worst of weather. The surface of the gallop is smooth and as regular as a garden lawn. The fences are beautifully built of birch and not difficult to negotiate'.

In Edwardian times Sedgefield promoted a two day fixture in March. Although it remained a meeting for hunting men, it was now a much more professional event.

The First World War saw the abandonment of racing in 1915 until its resumption in 1920. The post-war resumption was marred by the death of Richard Ord, the Squire of Sands Hall, who was owner of the Estate as well as a shrewd Jockey Club Handicapper.

By the mid twenties Sedgefield had three meetings, including a lucrative Boxing Day fixture, which still takes place to this day. The current Racecourse Company was founded in 1927, and has seen the fixtures gradually increase to the current twenty days.