A Brief Return to Racing
In 1912 the company’s chairman John Lees died at the age
of 89 after suffering a stroke. He was succeeded by
Henry Staveley Hill, M.P., the son of the first
chairman. The facilities at the course were improved in
1913 with work on the stands and the construction of the
club premises. The Shifnal Selling Handicap was held in
October and this resulted in a dead heat between Steve
Donoghue riding “Kinglet” and Sidney Seymour riding
“Tramp IV”. On such an occasion it was customary for the
owners to divide the stakes, if the owners did not agree
to do this, a deciding heat had to be run. On this
occasion a deciding heat was run and “Kinglet” ended in
first place by three quarters of a length.
The summer meeting in 1914 was
cancelled due to the outbreak of war. Although the
racecourse company offered the buildings and grounds to
the government to help with the war effort, the offer
was declined. In 1916 a strip of land on the edge of the
course was sold to Courtaulds for the building of their
new factory. As a result races were then restricted to 5
furlongs and 190 yards. |