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Going to the Gee Gees

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Chester Racecourse

Chester Racecourse may be small (just 1 mile and 1 furlong long) but it and its home town are significant in the world of horse racing.

The Roodee, as it is known, is the oldest racecourse still in use in England, with racing in this town dating back as far as the sixteenth century.  In 1540, the then mayor of Chester Henry Gee, cancelled the traditional Shrove Tuesday football match and replaced it with a horse race.

Racing in Chester never looked back and Henry made quite a name for himself.  It is his surname that gave rise to a common term for horses, and more particularly racehorses – the Gee Gees.

Linked to Thursday Special and Photo Gallery.

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