Held up by the wettest weather on record and legal agreements to connect land marooned by a new bypass road necessitating the consequent redesign of the scheme, the first new racecourse in the UK for 80 years is gearing up to open in under two months. Great Leighs near Chelmsford, Essex intends to offer race-goers a ‘destination’ racecourse with plenty of entertainment that includes year-round racing day and night.

With facilities designed around the customer Great Leighs should attract both regular and new racing enthusiasts. Over the last few years racing in Britain has seen a renaissance. Attendances are rising and evening racing is attracting a new clientele. There are also more horses in training as increasing numbers of people become owners either individually or as part of a racing consortium.

Great Leighs, a £40 million development providing a state-of-the-art Polytrack circuit, is not the only new racecourse in the UK. A former coal mine in Wales is being transformed into a floodlit all-weather track with equestrian centre, polo club and hotel at a cost of £16 million. In Greater Manchester the £100 million project Salford Forest Park will include an 18-hole golf course, hotel, eco village with camping facilities and cycling, riding and walking trails.

Several existing racetracks have recently undergone refurbishment and Arena Leisure, which operates seven racecourses, has plans to create the UK’s first racino at its Wolverhampton track. Racecourses are becoming part of integrated leisure entertainment that can offer far more than the sight of horses running round a circuit and a chance for a ‘flutter.’ Conference and banqueting facilities, fine dining, health and fitness centres, equestrian centres, golf courses and racing festivals are all part of the present horseracing revamp. (E-01.04.08)

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