The Kiplingcotes Races
How did they start? ….
Why have we given you a pamphlet on the Kiplingcotes Derby when there are such famous races as the St Leger, the Derby, the Oakes and the Grand National in the Racing Calendar?
Simply because this East Riding Race is so different.
Why?
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It is said to be the oldest flat race - which reputedly started in 1519 and was certainly endowed in 1619.
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There is no charge for spectators, no grandstand and no ‘facilities’.
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The winner receives a cup and £15.00 but, if there are more than 3 riders the second receives £4 for each entry. i.e. more than the winner.
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There is no course as such. The horses run along a wide grass verge, sometimes a tarmac road. They cross two country lanes, one bridge over a disused railway and one major road (the A163) – each time protected by local police and NO PARKING bollards - and finish along a stretch (usually of deep mud) before passing a simple signpost donated by a local Secondary School.
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There are no judges (except for the Clerk of the Course and the spectators) and there are no facilities for a photo finish.
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There are no bookmakers.
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The position of the Clerk of the Course has been in the same family for over five generations. In 1979 it was held by Mr Ruston’s married daughter (the first woman to do the job) because her father was ill.
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So - how did it all start?
The local gentry wanted a gruelling test of a horse in the days when betting was the life blood of the horse fraternity. How had a particular horse come through the winter? Was it fit for the coming flat racing?
In the early days of the race a whole day was enjoyed by the locals with possibly more than one race and the day culminating in a vicious ‘free for all’ as riders and spectators competed to carry home the prize – a ball. No holds were barred – any rider indiscrete enough to collect the ball and head for home across hedge and ditch could be attacked with whip and crop and severely damaged.
Nowadays – a handful of spectators gather at the start, at the crossing of lanes, to see the furious gallop down to a twelve foot wide bridge over a disused railway, at the crossing of a main road and, at the finishing post amid a collection of cars and horse boxes along side a wood (and often in wintry weather).
Although the race is a ‘flat’ race (no jumps) the Start (see the black square on the map) is 160 feet above sea level; the ‘course’ climbs over Goodmanham Wold to 368 feet above sea level, drops to 303 feet at Enthorpe bridge, rises again to 438 feet above sea level as it approaches (through thick mud) the A 163 and the Winning Post on Londesborough Wold is on the 450 foot contour line. All this over a distance of some four miles and which, in late March, usually includes glutinous mud in the penultimate furlong.
There are various hazards such as:-
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The crossing of two country lanes.
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The crossing of a major road (the A 163).
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Negotiating a twelve foot wide ex-railway bridge after an exhilarating dash down a drop of fifty feet in the previous hundred yards.
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Plodding through deep mud (and/or snow) for the penultimate furlong.
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Approaching the winning post which is surrounded by a gaggle of cheering spectators – all within kicking distance.
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And - the late March weather is often unkind to horse, rider and spectator. I watched the race in 1979 and twenty four hours later the whole area was under two feet of drifting snow.
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In the early days of the race the Wolds were not enclosed. Open ground with grass and shrubby growth of birch, hawthorn, gorse and elder formed an ideal hawking and coursing venue, sometimes even patronised by Henry V111. There were no roads and few tracks. After the enclosures of the 1800’s great strides in agricultural development were made. Fortunately the Commissioners left a grass lane which forms the first part of the course.
In 1619 some 49 local gentlemen subscribed £365 to ensure that the “Kiplingcoates Plate was ridd yearly on the third Thursday in March”. The gentry included the Earl of Burlington, Sir John Hotham, Sir Marmaduke Constable, Sir Robert Hildyard (whose ancestor rode in 1956), Sir Hugh Bethel le Ryse, etc.
In his 1741 Calendar the writer, John Cheny, says “The prize at Kiplingcoates was founded by a body of foxhunters who, taking an affection to the Woulds of that part of Yorkshire (in some measure resembling the Downs of Southern England) were pleased to deposit the sums from whence the prize annually arises. And although but 16 guineas, yet as the time of running for it is in the infancy of the season, ‘tis looked upon as a proper ‘Taste Tryal’ or proof for horses, how they have come through the winter and many of considerable form in the north have often started for the said prize”.
In 1875 one of the race veterans remarked “We have sometimes had to cut through snow seven or eight feet thick for a passage for the horses to run, but we have always had our race”.
In 1822 the subscribed fund was invested and Trustees appointed from among local gentlemen. The interest (a minimum of £15) is taken by the winner. Of the entry fee (currently £4.25) the second receives £4 for each horse entered and the Clerk receives 25p for each horse. Out of this he pays the starter, at present an 80 year old Mr Gee, the large sum of 50p. What a lovely name for the starter or our oldest horse race! Mr Gee.
As one can imagine the race rules read out by the Clerk, Henry Rushton, after the Weigh In at the finishing post can be quite amusing …
“Every horse, gelding or mare that runneth for the prize shall be led out between twelve and one of the clock, and shall run the course before two in the afternoon”.
“Every horse that runneth …. shall run with a rider weighing 10 stone”. And, as many of today’s riders are young women who do not weigh 10 stone they must fill their pockets with lead weights etc”.
“Every rider that wanteth more than one pound of his weight after he has run shall win no prize”.
In 1961, as Jean Cole-Walton rode her horse ‘Trent Field’ over the course, she lost most of her lead weights from her pockets and weighed in 11 lbs below the required 10 stone, thereby losing the race although she was first home.
Perhaps we should end with the story of the night nurse from Leeds Infirmary in 1965 who came straight from night duty by train to Market Weighton, rode and won the race and was back in Leeds Infirmary for night duty again. “What did Matron say?”
Richard R.N.Lowe
March 1980
If you can add to the story about the Kiplingcoates Races, perhaps with more historical information or local personalities that have entered and in particular, WON, this race in recent years I would be very grateful to hear from you. Any anecdotes that could be included in this fascinating tale would also be very welcome.
Finally, if there is anyone out there who knows Mr Richard R.N. Lowe, the Author of the story above, it would be wonderful to hear from him or of what became of him in the 25 years since he wrote the pamphlet that the story was taken from.
Please contact the WEBMASTER if you can help.
The Market Weighton Website has an excellent page covering the Kiplingcotes Races
