The Hambletonians - the history behind the former racecourse and training centre. | Trainer Magazine | European Trainer Article Index

Jun 28

Jun 28 The Hambletonians - the history behind the former racecourse and training centre.

HISTORICALLY, it is no exaggeration to suggest that, but for its geographical location, Hambleton would have rivalled Newmarket as a dedicated racing and training centre in the U.K. From at least the early 17th century, there was a racecourse at Hambleton frequented by the northern noblemen and gentry with the royal Gold Cup (later the 100 Guineas) as the feature race each year. Black Hambleton (as it was known, after the peak several miles to the north in the Hambleton Hills) was the only other racecourse to be mentioned along with Newmarket in an act of parliament of 1740 and records show that, certainly from the 18th century, a number of trainers were based around the moor, while many others came to Hambleton to fine tune their horses. The earliest written race records from Black Hambleton are from 22 August 1715, when Mr Gage’s bay mare Who Would Have Thought It won His Majesty’s 100 Guineas. However, reference is made by a Thomas Chaytor, in his diary of 1612, to racing there in that year – an equivalent timeframe to Newmarket’s origins under James I. Horses were clearly to be found in the area, whether racing or working, long before this, as illustrated by the stirrups (see photograph) dated as far back as the 15th century, found on the moor. Perched at over 1,000 feet above sea level on top of the steep Sutton Bank, the Hambleton moor provided a natural arena for a racecourse and gallops. The map ( see page ) shows an old road layout, but the position o the racecourse is clear. There was also a straight three-mile gallop to the north and south of the oval course on top of the bank where match races were often held. The prominence of Hambleton was probably not only the result of its natural features but also because it formed part of the Helmsley estates owned by the Dukes of Buckingham. Although it may not have had the personal patronage of the monarch as did Newmarket, the Gold Cup testifies to the royal support it had won very early in the history of the turf. This was no doubt in large part due to the close association of the first Duke of Buckingham with James I and Charles I and then of the second Duke with Charles II. The winning post was known as the Dialstone and became the iconic image of Hambleton racecourse. It was located close to Dialstone House and took the form of a stone obelisk with a sundial. The jockeys’ scales were attached and the Gold Cup was placed on top as depicted in Wootton’s painting. The King’s Gold Cup continued for many years, albeit officially listed later on as His Majesty’s 100 Guineas and also sometimes known as the Royal Plate. Queen Anne changed the rules of entry such that the race became eligible for five-year-old mares only over four miles carrying ten stone, and in 1719 the race established a record for the biggest field in any turf event with 31 runners. Under the rule of George II (1727-60), fun was at a premium and all forms of gambling, drunkenness, and idleness were frowned upon and legislated against. In 13 George II c.19 ‘An Act to restrain and prevent the excessive Increase of Horse Races,’ the preamble explained that ‘the breed of strong and useful horses hath been much prejudiced’ by the proliferation of low-value races. It was therefore enacted that, from 24th June 1740, no race could be run for under the value of £50; and that ‘no person or persons whatsoever shall start or run any match... for any sum of money plate prize or other things whatsoever, unless such match shall be started or run at Newmarket Heath or Black Hambleton, or the said sum of money plate prize or other thing be of the real and instrinsic value of £50 or upwards.’ In 1775, the royal 100 Guineas was transferred in alternate years to York and Richmond and this marked the beginning of the end of Hambleton as a racecourse. Its last moment of glory came in 1795 when the great Hambletonian won his first race in a sweepstake for three-year-old colts over two miles. Although named after the area, Hambletonian – who went on to win the St Leger and many other big races and, in 1799, to beat Diamond in a match at Newmarket worth the huge figure of 3,000 guineas – was not actually trained at Hambleton. There had never been any stand or shelter at Hambleton and though there was a last attempt to resuscitate racing there in 1811, it came to nothing. York, Richmond, and Malton were more accessible for transport and had the accommodation needed for visitors, servants, and horses. The balls, dinners, and assemblies that now ran alongside racing could more easily flourish in these places, too. Though the moor seceded racecourse pre- eminence in the north, the 19th century was a golden era for Hambleton as a training centre. Trainers based themselves around the moor in Hambleton House, at the Hambleton Hotel (in a yard, now long gone, to the side and in boxes on the other side of the road), in Dialstone House (sometimes known as Dialstone Inn and now known as Dialstone Farm), and in High House (now High House Farm). Hambleton Lodge was probably built in the early-mid 19th century. One wall adjoins the inn and a now bricked-up door linked the two buildings. The lodge was used as a trainer’s house, stable staff house, and for hotel guests at various times but did not become a training establishment in its own right until the 20th century. Around 1800, a rubbing house was built at Hambleton. The sweating gallop (or Yorkshire gallop), involved two-, three-, or four-mile gallops in heavy rugs. The horses were brought to the rubbing house after the gallop, and their rugs were then removed, the sweat scraped off, and the horses rubbed dry. Hesseltine is a name that goes down in Hambleton folklore. It is thought that an early Hesseltine was ‘training groom’ to the second Duke of Buckingham. A succession of Hesseltines followed as jockeys, trainers, and innkeepers. Probably the most famous was Lenny Hesseltine who died in 1842, having just taken on the training of Alice Hawthorne. Bob Hesseltine, his brother, took over both the training and the riding of the great mare who went on to race till she was eight and won 50 out of 69 races. In the very early 19th century, John Scott was apprenticed to a trainer at Hambleton. He was himself listed as a trainer there in 1823 and, though he later became the ‘Wizard of Malton,’ he would bring the best of his string over to Hambleton to do strong work in the summer months. Most of his extraordinary 40 classic winners would have finished off their preparation on the Hambleton gallops. From Scott to Sir Noel Murless, Hambleton was acclaimed over the years as the best training ground in the north, if not the whole country. After the Hesseltines, the name of Stebbing became synonymous with Hambleton. The Stebbing family had in fact originated in Newmarket and were connected to a bookmaker named B. Green. The brothers James and Henry Stebbing lived in the Hambleton Hotel and held the licence as well as training. William Stebbing continued to train there after their deaths and it was in his ‘care’ that a horse called Vatican stood at Hambleton. Vatican had been a good horse on the racecourse, coming third in the St Leger and subsequently winning the Ascot Stakes amongst other good races. But he was a ferocious, mad, and carnivorous horse and, “Trainers continued to come and go in the early part of the 20th century culminating in the arrival of Noel Murless in 1935” after injuring a number of both men and mares, a special box was built for him with rings in each corner securing his limbs. But the worst was yet to come. After Vatican had bitten off the head of a donkey that was put in his box to keep him company, a vet was called from Thirsk. The horse was anaesthetised and, with a heated iron, the vet set about burning Vatican’s eyes out. Some of the trainers that followed the Stebbings included the Dawson brothers; William l’Anson, who was credited with greatly improving the gallops; and William Sanderson. Then in the early 1880s came Tom Stebbing Green, son of James Stebbing, based first at the Dialstone Inn and later at the hotel. Tom Green was a real sporting character, who would turn his hand to boxing, coursing, cricket, or billiards as the hour required. Concurrent with him at Hambleton House through the 1890s was Joseph Vasey but it was at this time that the High Moor, part of the old racecourse, was closed to trainers by the new owner Sir Matthew Smith- Dodsworth. He had joined a non-conformist sect and considered racing sinful. A belt of trees was deliberately planted across the gallops in 1901 (and subsequently felled in 1938) and a stone wall built. Trainers continued to come and go in the early part of the 20th century culminating in the arrival of Noel Murless in 1935. He moved into Hambleton Lodge with five horses stabled in the old yard at Hambleton House. The lodge was nicknamed ‘The Ritz’ by the bachelor establishment who stayed and lived there in honour of its rather spartan amenities. Even in those relatively recent days, Sutton Bank was a challenge. On one occasion, Murless had to dig his way through the snow down Sutton Bank in the middle of the night, his head man leading March Brown, his Cheltenham Foxhunters candidate (and subsequent winner), in order to get to the horsebox. Murless put a lot of money and effort into the Hambleton gallops and restored the facilities that had been denied to trainers there for some decades. In 1937 he was joined by another trainer who was to attain legendary status – Ryan Price, who trained from the hotel yard until the war intervened. The war also meant a move to Middleham Incumbents after Murless included Jack Calvert in Hambleton House (1955-83); and Joe Carr, who lived in Hambleton Lodge and built the existing front yard there in 1958, using the stable doors from the old Manchester racecourse. Eventually, Les Eyre bought Hambleton House. It was he who first put in an all- weather gallop, but when he sold the property in 2002, the training ground was divided at the Cold Kirby road. Thus there are now two gallops – those on the eastern side being Bryan Smart’s from Hambleton House, and those on the western side, climbing up to a copse at the top of the hill and overlooking the countryside below, are Kevin Ryan’s from Hambleton Lodge. The lower section of the old oval course, where horses were racing four hundred years ago, was somewhere very close to the bottom end of Kevin Ryan’s gallop. Both Bryan Smart and Kevin Ryan have had great success at Hambleton and have sent out multiple group winners. Kevin Ryan started his training career there in 1998 with a dozen horses and now has ten times that number. “It’s a real old-fashioned, relaxed place with the right facilities to train racehorses, “ says Smart. “It’s been a very successful establishment over the years, and why should it not continue to be?”

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THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN - EUROPEAN TRAINER - ISSUE 42

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