New Fairview turns 40

FAIRVIEW Racecourse turned 40 last Friday.

Racing started via British garrisons in Port Elizabeth in 1817 at a farm by the name of Cradock Place.

Official meetings at Fairview Estate through the newly established Port Elizabeth Turf Club were started in 1857 when there was little but a small town.

The Fairview Estate was transferred in ownership in 1883 to the Turf Club, signed by Sir Hercules Robinson on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, thereby securing racing’s home for a further 120 years in the Eastern Cape.

A new course was acquired at St Albans in 1974.

The Jockey Club of South Africa was also founded there in 1882 before moving to Johannesburg in 1904.

The old course at Fairview (where Greenacres Shopping Centre is today) was relinquished and a new course at St Albans was developed with state-of-the-art facilities and amenities over a period of three years at a cost of just over R3-million at the time, under the guidance of then chairman Mr A Moffett and visionary Mr Roumanoff of the Greatermans Group.

The new course at St Albans opened on 18 June 1977.

Known for the popular Algoa Cup run in October as well as the Derby and the Oaks every May, Fairview Racecourse became part of Phumelela Gaming & Leisure in 1999.

A new R20-million stabling complex with space for an additional 288 horses was built in 2008 and modern mechanical starting stalls were imported from Australia in 2011. The Polytrack was added in 2013, allowing all-weather racing.

The modern-day Fairview is situated in Greenbushes and hosts racing once or twice a week on either a turf or Polytrack.