Kempton Park races for the first time on Wednesday since the sudden announcement by the Jockey Club of plans to sell the track off for housing to fund a new all-weather course near its HQ in NewmarketKempton Park races for the first time on Wednesday since the sudden announcement on Tuesday that the Jockey Club, its owner, feels compelled to sell it off for housing to fund a new all-weather track near its HQ in Newmarket. But there will be several hundred more chances for racegoers to visit the historic track, which opened in 1878, before the earliest possible date for its demise in 2021, and the seven races on a floodlit all-weather card are unlikely to tempt too many...
The proposed loss of the iconic course where Arkle, Desert Orchid and Kauto Star made their names has provoked astonishment and anger from jump-racing fans. A concerted protest campaign can be expectedThe Jockey Club achieved the impossible on Tuesday morning. In fact, it did so twice before lunchtime. First, having spent as long as any of us can remember insisting that British racing’s rich heritage is “priceless” and safe in its hands, it put a price on it, as it announced a proposal to sell Kempton Park to a housing developer. Then, as news of its proposal spread, it managed to do a second extraordinary thing: unite a notoriously disjointed sport in almost unanimous opposition to its plans, for Kempton...
Southwell selection Vivat Rex (2.20) remains unexposed on Fibresand and may prove to have been a very shrewd claim by trainer Conor Dore after his latest startSouthwell and its Fibresand surface are not to everyone’s taste, but I yield to no one in my devotion to the track and its resistance to Tapeta and Polytrack. Not, of course, that there is anything wrong with either, but for as long as Southwell sticks to the sand, there will be horses that love it and, just as important, plenty that don’t.The result, of course, is that many races here have several previous course winners in the field, but those that have spent time racing elsewhere can sometimes be overlooked. Related: Horse racing...
Media rights dispute between bookmakers and racecourses not resolved while TV viewing figures are down on last year despite new ITV dealLive racing coverage was blanked out in the majority of Britain’s betting shops on Monday as the result of an ongoing dispute over media rights payments between bookmakers and racecourses. The situation is unlikely to be resolved in time to prevent another blank day in the shops on Tuesday , while the Racing Post on Monday led its front page on the (not entirely unexpected) news that ITV Racing’s audience figures on ITV4 on Saturday had fallen “well short” of its debut numbers on the main channel.Add in an ongoing controversy over Rule 4 deductions which kicked off at Cheltenham...
Mick Easterby has a 7-2 shot with a big chance on Wolverhampton’s all-weather trackThe racing on offer today is what you would expect for a Monday but there are winners to be found and I strongly fancy that crafty old Yorkshireman Mick Easterby to get among them with Babouska (4.05) in Wolverhampton’s handicap over an extended nine furlongs. Continue reading...