Ely Racecourse

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Ely Racecourse was in direct line of descent from the old racecourse at Heath Farm, which on the Cardiff map of 1840 appears to be almost as big as the two parishes that at the time made up Cardiff. Ely Racecourse owed its beginnings to the sporting land owners and hunting folk of Glamorgan, such as the Williamses, Homfrays, Lindsays and Copes who were to form the Cardiff Race Club.

When the Welsh Grand National was held at Ely in 1895, the crowd was so big that they broke down the entrance to the shilling gate, and the police had a hard time in preventing the gatecrashers from obtaining free admission. The following year some 40,000 race-goers turned up to see the 1892 Grand National winner Father O'Flynn take on the legendary 1893 Grand National winner Cloister.

Many famous jockeys graced the Ely Turf. The famed Anthony and Rees brothers, Evan Williams, Dudley Williams, Bruce Hobbs, Fred Rimell, Fulke Walwyn to name just a few. As for the equine heroes, Golden Miller, Kirkland and Brown Jack were just three of them. There was a great ovation for local amateur rider David Thomas when he won the Welsh Grand National on his own mare Miss Balscadden in 1928.

Sadly, Ely Racecourse closed on 27 April 1939 - the last race being won by Lester Piggott's father Keith Piggott on Dunbarney. No longer would crowds flock there to witness the riding skills of some of the greatest National Hunt jockeys. In 1953 the old racecourse was officially opened as Cardiff's biggest recreation centre, and houses were built on part of the racecourse not used for sporting facilities.^[1]

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