Sporting magazine was however more charitable, its correspondent describing the venture as "the most perfect race-course I have ever seen", and as "an emporium even more extensive and attractive than Ascot or Epsom.

The Notting Hill grassy knoll (now surmounted by St John's church) was railed in as a "natural grandstand", from which spectators could watch the races.

These were not the sort of customers that Whyte had in mind, and The Times correspondent complained of "the dirty and dissolute vagabonds of London, a more filthy and disgusting crew ... we have seldom had the misfortune to encounter."

A public footpath traversing the land enclosed by Whyte's fences made it difficult to eject these unappealing visitors, whose "villainous activities" were a continual source of trouble.

[5] Two stewards of the Hippodrome, Lord Chesterfield and Count D'Orsay, attempted to improve the deteriorating image of the racecourse by changing its name to "Victoria Park, Bayswater", but to no avail.