The former racecourse is located to the north-west of Richmond town on Low Moor ( a name it was sometimes referred to as), and its elevation is . The grandstand was paid for by public subscription, being erected in 1775, and it is believed to be the work of architect
John Carr, who also designed the grandstands at
Doncaster and
York. The land at Low Moor was levelled "at great public expense". Horse-racing had been held in the environs of Richmond since at least 1576 (usually on High Moor), and by 1765, had moved to Low Moor, though racing had been conducted at Gatherley in 1516 (Gatherley is to the east of the town).
Christopher Rokeby, who spied on the Scottish court and
Mary, Queen of Scots attended races at Gatherley, as did
Roger Aston, a Cheshire-born courtier of
James VI of Scotland. A law was passed in 1740 by
George II that races must not be run for a prize less than £50. This had been to prevent the lower classes engaging in horse-racing (they were accused of "Idleness"). The same law dictated that horse races were to start and finish on the same day. As a result of this, Richmond racecourse stopped its races, but they were revived in 1760. Between 1765 and the building of the main grandstand in 1775, a temporary wooden stand was erected each year, the impetus for a more permanent structure came about due to the course holding the
Hambleton Hundred Guineas Race. Besides the main grandstand, a private stand was built in 1814 for the Zetland family. The track was in a rough oval shape and ran for a distance of with the grandstand in the middle at the west end, which afforded the spectators views of the race without them losing sight of the jockeys. Races were run in a clockwise direction. The grandstand had its lead roof stripped in the 1950s and further demolition occurred in the late 1960s. ==Grandstand==