Why the Grand National was held at Gatwick

A racecourse which hosted the Grand National three times is long-forgotten, and now overshadowed by the UK’s second largest airport which was built on the site.

Gatwick Airport’s South Terminal now stands on the same spot as Gatwick racecourse which hosted its first race in 1891 on the Surrey/West Sussex border.

Doug Cox, from Horley Local History Society, said: “On a race day it would have been quite noisy.

“The horses would have come off the train at Horley and trotted off down the road to what is now the south-east of Gatwick railway station.”

From the early 1800s horse racing had gained popularity as a leisure pursuit for all classes of society, and many new courses were constructed.

The owners of the site at Croydon formed the Gatwick Race Course Company and bought the existing Gatwick estate and manor house in 1890.

The first race meeting took place on 7 October 1891.

Mr Cox said: “The race course was a large circular track.

“There was even an 18-hole golf course.”

The Gatwick course became the centre of the racing calendar for three wartime years between 1916 and 1918 when it hosted the Grand National.

Paul Castle, from Crawley Museum, explained: “Everything came to a halt during World War One.

“Aintree was requisitioned by the war office and another venue needed to be found.

“That was Gatwick racecourse for three years.”

The winner of that last Gatwick Grand National was Ernest Piggott, the grandfather of famous jockey Lester Piggott.

Gatwick racecourse may have had its heyday during World War One but its demise came about with World War Two.

Mr Castle said: “The RAF requisitioned the whole area and it became an RAF station.”

After the war the racecourse’s owners hoped horses would be able to return.

But Gatwick closed permanently in 1950, opening its doors as an international airport eight years later.

“Gatwick racecourse is often overlooked from the record books,” Mr Castle said.

The ornate bandstand from the racecourse was salvaged and now stands in Crawley Memorial Gardens – one of the last reminders of an often-forgotten piece of racing history.