History Fit For a King

The first mention of horseracing at Perth was the first running of The Silver Bell in 1613. This was almost certainly on the Inch. Bonnie Prince Charlie is said to have mingled with the crowd at the races on the Inch. The first Official Returns from Perth appear in 1791. These early meeting appear to have been linked to the Caledonian Hunt Club. The annual meeting that was held in September and was certainly at the time and for many years, almost up to the present day linked , to The Perth Balls.

In 1906 a contributor to the Chambers Journal made the following reference, 'Once a year the great Perth Meeting and all the Notability in Perthshire took place in the North Inch'.
There is a record of flat racing taking place in 1893 and for some years afterwards but this does not appear to have been under Jockey Club Rules.

In 1908 racing moved from the North Inch to Scone Palace Park, the first meeting was a two day meeting held in September of that year. The configuration of the course will have changed slightly over the years but there is little doubt that the main characteristics remain the same.

Gradually the number of fixtures have increased from the original two days. Perth now enjoys thirteen days racing. The season starts with The Perth Festival during the last week of April. This three day meeting was first run in 1988, it soon enjoyed a special place in the N.H calendar attracting support and visitors from throughout the United Kingdom, and is now main meeting of the year at the course. There are two evening and afternoon fixtures in May and June and for the first time in 2000 Perth held their first Sunday meeting, featuring The City of Perth Gold Cup, a Steeplechase over three miles with prize money on offer of £25,000. This meeting is followed by a busy Saturday fixture in the third week of August, with the final meeting that original two day fixture in September.

H.M Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother visited Perth Racecourse in 1970 and again during the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations. In 1978 Jonjo O'Neill broke thw world record at Perth for the ammount of winners ridden in a season by a National Hunt Jockey. He said "that day was the most memorable in my racing life".