2-791-658 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The George, previous to the race, 1844. Northampton horse races: 'During the morning, the town of Northampton presented a most bustling and animated appearance - the front of the George Inn being occupied as a betting ring, and, of course, the great centre of attraction to all quid nuncs and sporting characters. The trains north and south kept hourly adding to the multitude, until, at half past one o'clock, when the procession, consisting of a long cavalcade of carriages, gigs, and conveyances of all sorts, moved forward towards the ground, it was estimated that there were upwards of twenty thousand persons present'. From "Illustrated London News", 1844, Vol I.