East Ilsley has long been associated with horse racing and even had its own race-course (shown in the early 19th century map below). There have been a number of successful horses trained in the village, a notable one being the Triple Crown winner of 1866, Lord Lyon, trained by James Dover at Church Hill stables. The success of Lord Lyon and his full sister Achievement are described in the newsletter article “Lord Lyon and the Triple Crown”
But there have also been scandals in the Ilsley horse racing world, most noticeably in 1951 when the trainer Edward Ernest Hill of Kennet House and owner Jack Morris went on trial at the Old Bailey over the substitution of a good horse for a mediocre one – a “ringer”. One of the horses even went to the Old Bailey as an exhibit – see newsletter article “The Kennet House Ringer”.