There are 59 different racecourses that operate in Britain, with Newton Abbot in Devon being the lowest and Perth in Scotland being the highest. Some course are in rude health, with major meetings such Glorious Goodwood, the Cheltenham Festival and the Grand National meaning that their futures are all but secure.
The same can’t be said of some of the other courses, however.
From difficulties coping with adverse weather through to a scarcity of meetings being held there, these venues face the risk of having to close their doors permanently in the not too distant future, which could have a devastating effect on the local economy.
Why Courses Are at Risk
The horse racing industry should be in rude health, given the financial support that it gets from the government and other area. Unfortunately, however, that obviously isn’t the case. The complete shutdown of racecourses to the public during the health crisis of 2020-2022 had an impact on many locations that they still haven’t recovered from.
Once the pandemic was over you’d be forgiven for thinking that things would return to normal, but that wasn’t the case. For starters, many venues up and down the country had to recoup the financial losses that they suffered over the preceding years, which has taken some time.
Musselburgh races is £30 entry today – I never ever think about going anymore for a day out £30 is too much for bang average flat racing
— Tony Harding (@momentumspk) July 23, 2024
Then there’s the impact on racecourses of the Cost of Living Crisis. People are unable to afford the sort of frivolous activity that a day at the races undoubtedly falls into, instead having to opt for the likes of feeding their family or turning on the heating in the colder months. Even a racecourse such as Ascot, which revealed its turnover for 2023 in the July of 2024, is struggling to turn a profit.
The operating costs of running a racecourse are so high as to mean that it is tough for racecourses to make money, which in turn means that keeping them open becomes harder and harder for those that were already operating on a knife-edge.
Kempton Park Has Been at Risk For Years
There is still racing taking place at Kempton Park on a regular basis, with the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day being one of the best-known events in the jump racing calendar. In 2017, however, news emerged that the Jockey Club was considering accepting an offer from Redrow Homes for the venue.
The idea was that 3,000 homes would be built on the site and that it would be for the ‘long-term good of British racing’ for the Jockey Club to sell the venue. With Sandown just six miles away, Kempton Park has long struggled to assert its dominance over its neighbour when it comes to persuading racing fans to head there.
It wasn’t a news story that was greeted with much enthusiasm by the horse racing industry itself. Trainer Nicky Henderson sent a tweet saying, “The King George isn’t the same race at Sandown. Kempton is a track National Hunt racing cannot afford to lose. It’s that simple. Very sad news indeed”.
Meanwhile a jockey who won the King George in 1997, Andrew Thornton, asked by money raised would be invested at a flat racing venue rather than in jump racing. In the end, the sale didn’t take place, yet that was likely more to do with Covid than any long-term prospects that Kempton Park might have to offer to the world of horse racing.
Chester Could Go the Way of Other City Centre Courses
On the surface, there is little risk to Chester Racecourse. It is a popular place to go and, although there was talk of a possible closure if crowds didn’t return to venues in 2021, it is seemingly in rude health. One of the slight problems that the course faces is that it only hosts flat racing, so there are only a few meetings per year that can be used to top up its coffers.
Even so, it doesn’t look as if Chester is at any immediate risk of having to close its doors forever. The slight problem that might well rear its head at some point in the future, however, is that there has always been a desire to replace city centre courses with housing.
@platinumracing2014 Chester Racecourse 😍😍 #winner #horses #chester #winning #free #tips ♬ original sound – Nick Farrow | Plat Racing
Bromford Bridge was a popular racecourse in Birmingham, for example, first seeing racing taking place there in 1895. In 1965, however, it witnessed its final run of the gee-gees, closing down in order to make way for what is nowadays a housing estate; the only sign it was ever the site of racing can be seen in street names such as Haydock Close and Arkle Croft.
It is a similar story for Hurst Park in Surrey, where racing began in 1890 and ceased in 1962. For now, Chester is entirely safe. Yet its proximity to the centre of the city means that that might not always be the case. If more housing is needed in the area, why wouldn’t the racecourse be considered the perfect spot?