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Ely Racecourse was a horse racing venue in the
Ely Ely or ELY may refer to: Places Ireland * Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely * Ely Place, Dublin, a street United Kingdom * Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England ** Ely Cathedral ** Ely Rural District, a ...
district of
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...
,
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. The racecourse opened in 1855, with the first race being held on 30 May. By 1864 racing at Ely was a regular event, the races that year were acclaimed as 'the most brilliant and successful ever held'.


History

In 1895 the first
Welsh Grand National The Coral Welsh Grand National is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Chepstow, Wales, over a distance of about ...
was held at the Ely Racecourse. It was watched by over 40,000 people, many of whom did not pay for entry after charging the entry gates and overpowering the stewards. In the early 1900s attendance figures began to steadily decline and the racecourse never fully recovered from a fire that destroyed the grandstand in 1937. The last race to be held there, in 1939, was won by Grasshopper, ridden by Keith Piggott, father of the famous jockey
Lester Piggott Lester Keith Piggott (5 November 1935 – 29 May 2022) was an English professional jockey and trainer. With 4,493 career flat racing wins in Britain, including a record nine Epsom Derby victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...
. Trelai Park is now on the site of the racecourse.


Further reading

*


See also

*
Sport in Cardiff Sport in Cardiff is dictated by, amongst other things, its position as the capital city of Wales, meaning that national home sporting fixtures are nearly always played in the city. All of Wales' multi-sports agencies and many of the country's s ...


References

{{Sport in Cardiff Defunct horse racing venues in Wales History of Cardiff Sports venues in Cardiff Defunct sports venues in Wales Sports venues completed in 1855