“Henry Cecil I believe liked to run his 2yos there”
Indeed: in 1984, both Oh So Sharp and Slip Anchor broke their ducks there (the former on debut, the latter in his second race) before going on to far better things.
Nottingham also had some good jumps races back in the day, including both Champion Hurdle and Arkle trials. It was a pity that the jumps track closed, and the shutdown of the entire racecourse would be a terrible loss.