Horse racing moved from Kersal Moor to a new racecourse at Castle Irwell, just across the River Irwell from Kersal, in 1847. In 1867 it was moved to New Barnes, Weaste but the site had to be vacated in 1901 when Salford Docks expanded and built its Dock 9. Castle Irwell later staged a Classic – the 1941 St. Leger Stakes, and was most famous as home of the Lancashire Oaks (nowadays run at Haydock Park Racecourse) and the November Handicap, which was traditionally the last major race of the British flat season. Both the Castle Irwell and New Barnes sites were named the "Manchester Racecourse" even though they were entirely within the borders of Salford. Through the late 1950s and early 1960s the track saw jockeys such as Scobie Breasley and Lester Piggott annually battle out the closing acts of the jockey's title until racing ceased on 7 November 1963. The intention was to sell the land, apart from , to a property development company. Both the City Council and the Royal Technical College objected and their objections were upheld at a Public Enquiry two years later. The main stand at Castle Irwell was designed by local architect Ernst Atherton and was the first stand at any sports venue in the UK to include private boxes, the idea having later been copied by Manchester United and then made commonplace throughout the country. The structure still survives as a students' union building; and in the early 1970s the majority of the site was used to build a student village for the University of Salford, the first student houses opening in October 1972.