HARKAWAY CLUB CELEBRATES 100 YEARS AT CHADDESLEY CORBETT

The Harkaway Club was formed in 1902 to promote polo and show jumping, before being changed to a Point-to-Point Club, with the first meeting in 1905. The early races were held at Tuck Hill, Enville, before the fixture moved to Chaddesley Corbett in 1925.

It has been held at the same venue ever since, with the exception of three meetings at Wilbrighton in the 1950s. After a six-year interruption due to World War two, a second course was opened at Chaddesley Corbett, which was used from 1946 to 1954. In 1975, the Harkaway Club returned to another course, on the same site as the original 1925-1939 location.

Not much is known about the early runnings of the Harkaway Club meeting, although we know that, in 1928, the Prince of Wales – who became the Duke of Windsor – rode at the meeting, although he fell at the water jump. The 1926 racecard, the earliest available, lists five races – including one with a base weight of 14st – and most of the races had a first prize of 20 sovereigns.

The 1926 Harkaway Club Racecard

With information about the early fixtures limited, over the six weeks leading up to the 100^th anniversary fixture on Sunday 28^th December, we will be taking a decade-by-decade look at the highlights of the Harkaway Club fixtures from the mid-1970s to the present day.