The British Horseracing Authority will announce by noon today whether next Friday’s meeting at Musselburgh will be scrubbed from the calendar as a result of the infighting on the racecourse’s ruling committee, having extended a deadline of 5pm on Thursday after the committee’s chairman, Willie Innes, seemed to agree to hold an independent review of the way the council-owned track is run.
“A number of caveats” in Innes’s pledge are currently being examined in High Holborn before the BHA decides whether to renew the track’s licence to stage racing, but this Friday’s racing programme is a useful diversion while we await their decision. The card at Sandown in particular is a fine advertisement for competitive racing, with a real depth to all seven of the events including the Listed Gala Stakes, where last year’s winner Ayrad (3.25) should go in again.
Related: BHA admits ‘issue’ as Royal Parks wins race 24 hours after colic withdrawal
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