ImagesBrighton pictures of the week 9-1-2006

IMAGESBRIGHTON photography by david gray
	B R I G H T O N R A C E S
	P I C T U R E S O F T H E W E E K 9 - 1 - 2 0 0 6

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This week's picture set takes a look at Brighton racecourse between 1995 and 2000. Horses have been raced on the Downs at Brighton since the first meetings were organised by the Marquess of Queensbury in the 1780s. The aristocracy, led by the Prince Regent, patronised the course until the railway brought the masses down to Brighton and drove the toffs to more exclusive turf elsewhere. By the 1930s, it had a reputation for seediness and violence that was not helped by Graham Greene's depiction of a gang fight at the course in "Brighton Rock". Years of post-war decline were only halted in 1998, when the Northern Racing Group took over ownership from Brighton Council and began some much needed investment in the course facilities and promotion. Brighton will never be Ascot, but it is steadily recovering as a racecourse with a liveliness and character all its own. For those who fancy a day out "where the turf meets the surf", the first meeting of this year takes place on Sunday 26th March.

Bookies on the course in September 1997 (image 1159-1b)

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