A short amateur film produced by Joe Clark of the Simonside Hurdles for amateur riders taking place Saturday 8th April 1961 at Rothbury Racecourse situated on a plain by the River Coquet just outside the village of Rothbury in Northumberland. The racecourse closed in 1965. The winner that day was Graham MacMillan on Gus Minton’s Gibson trained by John Barclay. At the start of the day cars, coaches and horse-lorries are parked in lines in a field. A man leads a horse out of one of the...

A short amateur film produced by Joe Clark of the Simonside Hurdles for amateur riders taking place Saturday 8th April 1961 at Rothbury Racecourse situated on a plain by the River Coquet just outside the village of Rothbury in Northumberland. The racecourse closed in 1965. The winner that day was Graham MacMillan on Gus Minton’s Gibson trained by John Barclay. At the start of the day cars, coaches and horse-lorries are parked in lines in a field. A man leads a horse out of one of the lorries while nearby a man washing the hooves of another horse. A young man walks past leading another. Two horses graze near the lorries, both are wearing horse-coats. Tic-tac bookmakers’ chalkboards advertise the odds as people place their bets. The horses are paraded around a paddock watched by a crowd. The jockeys walk into the paddock and climb onto the horse. The crowds use binoculars to watch the riders make their way to the start line. The race gets underway with horse and riders make a number of jumps and speeding around the course. A small boy in a tartan hat eats a biscuit uninterested in the events taking place around him. The winning horse crosses the finish line, a rider walks away across the field as a horse is lead away. The film ends on a man ripping up his betting slip.