A right royal race day
H
ORSE racing began in Buckfastleigh in 1883 and it became one of the centres for National Hunt racing. For the uninitiated, National Hunt racing is run over fences as in the Grand National. Although the course closed to top class racing in 1960 it still hosts point to point races today. Princess Margaret visited the course in 1949 and attendance figures on the day shot up from its usual 10,000 to more than 23,000. A special stand was erected for her visit. One of the stands and a commentary box can still be seen to the east, as you drive on the A38 just south of Buckfastleigh. Corrugated iron buildings, now covered with ivy and
bushes, are all that remain of the stands which, when filled with spectators, reverberated with excitement as the horses raced to the finishing post. Older residents recall the horses arriving in Buckfastleigh by train from Totnes and then walking past the town out to the racecourse. At the end of the day the process was reversed as they and many of the ‘punters’ made their weary way home.
figures who often rode at Buckfastleigh was Lord Mildmay. Known at ‘Nitty’ Mildmay, he was a famous and popular steeplechaser. He rode in the Grand National before and after the Second World War and in 1936 would probably have won if the
One of the most popular
buckle on the reins had not broken as he led into the last but one fence and this caused his horse to run wide. However, in 1948 he came third in the Grand National on his famous horse Cromwell. In 1949, Lord Mildmay helped the Queen
■ Princess Margaret enters the Buckfastleigh racecourse in 1949.
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■ Runners and riders flash past the stand at the historic meeting.
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