Brian’s Blast from the Past
THE South Wales Daily News, dated April 29, 1886, informed its readers: “After an interval of eight years Cardiff was on Wednesday once more the scene of racing, and judging from the amount of public interest taken in the proceedings, there would appear to be good ground for believing that, if not for all time, at any rate for a long time to come, the inhabitants of the Welsh metropolis may look to the annual recurrance of the event.”
In fact, Ely Racecourse was to survive right up until the start of the Second World War.
However, let us take a look at Ely in late Victorian times. Cowbridge Road is crowded with horsedrawn vehicles of every description, and much in favour with racegoers are the large brakes booked at sixpence apiece.
Many are arriving from Birmingham, Bristol, Cheltenham and Swansea in the special trains laid on by the Great Western Railway.
On the course the visitors are greeted by jugglers and minstrels performing for coppers. Also for their entertainment is the Hungarian band. Stationed at various points around the course are hundreds of policemen watching out for pickpockets and tricksters.
The bookmakers, true to tradition, are extravagantly attired. One, who is shouting himself hoarse,is wearing a flaming crimson coat of an extraordinary pattern, and another is decked out in boating flannels.
Many of the ladies prefer to remain in their carriages, however, those who have ventured outside we can see that Lady Hill is wearing black, with a remarkably smart and becoming flat felt bonnet of coral hue, trimmed with four tufts of coral feathers.
Constance Hill is wearing a red costume with black sash and “facings” and that the Hon Violet Morgan is in a bluish grey tweed skirt, coat white waistcoat, and a black hat.
Of course, the main attraction at any racecourse is the horses and throughout its history Ely was to attract some of the best in the country. For instance, the dual Grand National winner The Colonel (1869/70) ran there as did Emblem (1863) and Emblematic (1894).
Other Grand National winners to grace the Ely turf were Cloister and the legendary Golden Miller.
The end of Ely Races came on April 27, 1939, after Grasshopper, ridden by Lester Piggott’s father Keith Piggott, won the Club Juvenile Handicap, the last event of the meeting.
And no longer would racegoers flock there to witness the riding skills of Bruce Hobbs, Fulke Walwyn, Jack Fawcus and many other leading National Hunt jockeys.
Brian Lee is the author of The Welsh Grand National: From Deerstalker to Emperor’s Choice published by The History Press.