Alexandra Park Racecourse

The course is described as "pear-shaped with a stick attached",[1] hence the nickname the "Frying Pan". There were two loops coming off a single straight. Races were run over three distances only: 5 furlongs (1,000 m), 1 mile (1,600 m), and 1 mile 5 furlongs (2,600 m).[2] All except the 5-furlong races were run the reverse way round the course, with the start also at the winning post. The round course had tight bends and cambers and the 5-furlong course had well-graded curves about 2 furlongs along.[1] The going was often firm or hard, though one good downpour could render the turf treacherously slippery.[2] There was an ornate Victorian grandstand and cast-iron railings.

Monday evening meetings were a regular feature of Alexandra Park's programme.[3] Evening racing started in 1955, and the course's popularity grew temporarily.[2] The meetings were often televised by the BBC. The course's most important races were the London Cup (later transferred to Newbury), the Middlesex Plate, the Flying 2-year-old Plate[1] and the 5-furlong Southgate Stakes.

Alexandra Park has been described as "the quirkiest course in Britain ... celebrated for its atmosphere but reviled for the treacherous twists and turns."[2] Among its most fervent supporters was the racing pundit, John McCririck, who was a fan of the course. "Part of me died when Alexandra Park closed in 1970," he has said, "I’ve never recovered from it."[3] McCririck had asked that his ashes be scattered at the furlong post,[2] and had also spoken of his wish to be able to afford to rebuild the course.[1]

The course was not, however, universally popular: spectator viewing, for instance, was markedly restricted. The five-furlong start was obscured by trees, and neither were there uninterrupted views of the round course. Jockeys were not always complimentary about the track either: Willie Carson is quoted as saying that Alexandra Park "wanted bombing".[2]

Victoria Stakes, a pub in the vicinity named after a race at the course

The rails and the outline of the course were still in existence in 1999 when a plan was hatched by a company called FFK Racing to resurrect it. Proposals were made to the British Horseracing Board but nothing ever came to fruition.[2] In 2011, a group called Riding in Haringey planned an equestrian centre.[3]

The centre of the racecourse has been a cricket ground since the 19th century and used by Alexandra Park CC from the early 1900s. [4] Local football team Alexandra Park FC also play at the Racecourse Ground. The former track may be walked around. The course is also commemorated in the local pub names the Starting Gate and the Victoria Stakes.[2]

• "Dear Old Alley Palley", footage of horse racing on the Frying Pan from British Pathe, 1927. Silent film, 2 mins.