Old 1800s Virginia racing trivia
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:10 am
I'm not sure how much interest there is, if any, in old VA racing material, but I ran across some tidbits while researching pre-war environment there.
1. Maps showing the location of important old tracks. Two courses where such names as Boston and Planet ran were near Richmond. The Fairfield course was located about a mile easterly of downtown, and the Broad Rock Course was about 5 miles southwesterly of the city core. In this map, the Fairfield one is unnamed, but I knew its general location from another source. Strong guess that the "McDaniel" residence near Broad Rock is that of David McDaniel:
http://www.loc.gov/resource/g3884r.cw0644000/
2. The Newmarket (or New Market) course was located about a mile east of Petersburg, on property owned by prominent horseman Otway P. Hare over the last 25+ years of its existence. In June 1864, it found itself on the Union side of the front lines during the seige that lasted until the next April. Mr. Hare's mansion was on the hill overlooking his track, and its site was used as the formation of Fort Stedman, which is included within the boundaries of the present-day national war monument. Hare never returned to his old house to live, it being destroyed (Years later, he erected a more modest structure nearby). On this map, it is toward the left hand side, about 1/3 of the way from the top--caution, the north arrow points to left:
http://digitalcollections.baylor.edu/cd ... singleitem
3. In November 1863, Mr. Hare advertised for two meetings to be held later that year, one at Newmarket and the other at Broad Rock. Supposedly, on Nov 27 there was to be a match race between the retired Planet and Lord Clyde. I haven't been able to locate a subsequent newspaper that contains the results of that match, whether it came off or was forfeited. The available racing calendars do not mention these wartime Southern meetings. (on column 3 of this page, at the bottom)
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/ ... nge&page=1
I am in the process of looking for vintage maps of other VA tracks at Ashland/Hanover area and Norfolk.
1. Maps showing the location of important old tracks. Two courses where such names as Boston and Planet ran were near Richmond. The Fairfield course was located about a mile easterly of downtown, and the Broad Rock Course was about 5 miles southwesterly of the city core. In this map, the Fairfield one is unnamed, but I knew its general location from another source. Strong guess that the "McDaniel" residence near Broad Rock is that of David McDaniel:
http://www.loc.gov/resource/g3884r.cw0644000/
2. The Newmarket (or New Market) course was located about a mile east of Petersburg, on property owned by prominent horseman Otway P. Hare over the last 25+ years of its existence. In June 1864, it found itself on the Union side of the front lines during the seige that lasted until the next April. Mr. Hare's mansion was on the hill overlooking his track, and its site was used as the formation of Fort Stedman, which is included within the boundaries of the present-day national war monument. Hare never returned to his old house to live, it being destroyed (Years later, he erected a more modest structure nearby). On this map, it is toward the left hand side, about 1/3 of the way from the top--caution, the north arrow points to left:
http://digitalcollections.baylor.edu/cd ... singleitem
3. In November 1863, Mr. Hare advertised for two meetings to be held later that year, one at Newmarket and the other at Broad Rock. Supposedly, on Nov 27 there was to be a match race between the retired Planet and Lord Clyde. I haven't been able to locate a subsequent newspaper that contains the results of that match, whether it came off or was forfeited. The available racing calendars do not mention these wartime Southern meetings. (on column 3 of this page, at the bottom)
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/ ... nge&page=1
I am in the process of looking for vintage maps of other VA tracks at Ashland/Hanover area and Norfolk.