Teesside Retail Park with The Cleveland Hills beyond - geograph

Stockton Racecourse (September 1855 - 16 June 1981), also known as Teesside Park, was a British

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

venue near

Thornaby-on-Tees Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, north of York and south-east of Middlesbrough. On the south bank of the River Tees, Thornaby falls within th ...

in the North Riding of Yorkshire

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, once considered "the finest in the north". Through the years, racing took place at three sites. The first of these was at Thornaby Carrs in the North Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of Thornaby Village where racing first took place in 1724. Racing was then discontinued for many years, before being revived in September 1855 at Mandale Marshes, situated on a loop in the

River Tees The River Tees (), in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern-day history of the river has been tied with the industries ...

. The Mandale course had two stands - the Stewards Stand and the Grand Stand. In three days racing in 1864, the attendance was 36,000. The course at Mandale Marshes lay north of the old course of the River Tees, but south of the Mandale Cut and the Portrack Cut which had been built in the early 19th century to straighten the river. When racing began there in the 1850s, it still formed part of the parish of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, but was physically cut off from the rest of the parish by the new course of the river. The county boundary was adjusted to follow the straightened course of the River Tees in 1887, after which the racecourse was in Thornaby in Yorkshire. Thornaby hosted only flat racing until the opening of the national hunt course in 1967, which was 38 yards wide and cost about £40,000. The flat course was a left-handed oval, slightly under 1 mile 6 furlongs round, with easy turns and a home straight of 4 furlongs. The starts for 5 furlong and 6 furlong races were on separate spurs. The national hunt course was just over 1 mile 4 furlongs, with 9 fences. At one time, local factories closed down especially for race week. However, the course went into decline after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, losing out to the competing attractions of cinema and TV. It finally closed on 16 June 1981 due to falling attendances. The last winner was a horse called Suniti. The site is now a shopping centre called Teesside Park.

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* Defunct horse racing venues in England 1855 establishments in England 1981 disestablishments in England Sports venues completed in 1855 Sport in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees {{horseracing-venue-stub

See also

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