2 hours ago
The “future of British equine racing” – and possibly astir immediately, nan early of Kempton Park – will beryllium nan taxable of a statement successful Westminster Hall connected Tuesday day aft Lincoln Jopp, nan Conservative personnel for Spelthorne, secured parliamentary clip for MPs to talk nan imaginable effect of nan government’s caller relaxation of readying regulations connected nan country’s second-biggest spectator sport.
There are 58 progressive British racecourses, aliases 59 if you count Newmarket’s Rowley Mile and July courses separately. Plenty are situated connected onshore that could beryllium overmuch much charismatic to developers aft nan preamble of nan Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, which intends to accelerate nan readying (and appeals) process and merchandise Green Belt onshore for improvement erstwhile readying authorities cannot meet lodging targets elsewhere.
But nary way is successful specified imminent threat of facing nan wrecking shot arsenic Kempton Park. The location of nan historical King George VI Chase connected Boxing Day has been nether threat since January 2017, erstwhile nan Jockey Club, which owns nan track, announced – to widespread astonishment and anger wrong nan athletics – that it planned to waste nan site to a lodging developer, move nan King George to Sandown Park and build a replacement all-weather way successful Newmarket.
Three years later, successful February 2020, it seemed that racing astatine Kempton had been reprieved, erstwhile nan Jockey Club announced revised plans for astir 550 houses to beryllium built connected nan site, alternatively than nan 3,000 that had primitively been envisaged.
But what nan Club did not publically disclose until December 2025 was that it had entered into a 10-year action statement connected nan full tract to nan housebuilder Redrow – now Barratt Redrow – measurement backmost successful 2018.
The track’s train station, which opened connected nan aforesaid time arsenic nan racecourse successful July 1878, could yet beryllium to beryllium its nemesis too, arsenic nan streamlined readying rules mean that, successful galore cases, applications for sites wrong 15 minutes’ locomotion of a well-connected position look a streamlined process pinch a beardown presumption successful favour of approval.
But while nan caller rules could facilitate Kempton’s demise, nan eventual logic that 1 of British racing’s astir historical venues is successful specified peril is that backmost successful 2018, nan 8 stewards of nan Jockey Club secretly signed its destiny complete to a housebuilder.
Jopp said past week that he had been informed an exertion was astir to beryllium made to build much than 2,000 homes connected nan site. Barratt Redrow instantly denied that this was nan case, insisting that location will beryllium nary exertion this year.
Next year, though, is conscionable six months away, and nan authorities is hopeless to present connected its manifesto committedness to build 1.5m caller homes successful 5 years. Barratt Redrow whitethorn beryllium each but obliged to workout its option. Its shareholders, successful each likelihood, would expect thing less.
If, aliases much apt when, it does workout that option, nan eventual accountability for nan position nan way finds itself successful will remainder pinch nan Jockey Club activity who sanctioned nan action successful 2018.
It happened down closed doors, and location is overmuch astir nan full process that still remains opaque.
The 8 stewards who agreed to nan woody were elected to their roles by their chap members of a self-appointed club, and taxable to small aliases nary extracurricular scrutiny aliases accountability, since nan Jockey Club operates nether a Royal Charter.
after newsletter promotion
They included Roger Weatherby, from nan family patient that has operated racing’s in-house banking strategy for decades, who was nan elder steward astatine nan time, and Baroness Dido Harding, much acquainted to galore extracurricular nan racing world arsenic nan arguable caput of NHS trial and trace during nan Covid pandemic. Harding is presently the Club’s elder steward.
The minutes of nan gathering erstwhile nan 2018 determination was taken person not been published, and astir apt ne'er will be. The agreed value for nan tract successful nan action statement has besides not been disclosed, though it will beryllium if nan action is exercised.
The Jockey Club states connected its website that its Royal Charter requires is to “act for nan semipermanent bully of British racing successful everything we do”, and said successful a connection connected Monday that nan action statement had “gave a housebuilder, Redrow, nan correct to acquisition nan racecourse for a important sum, to beryllium reinvested backmost into racing, if they were to execute readying consent to build connected it.”
The connection added: “This action remains successful spot and expires successful 2028, pinch a constricted expertise to widen if a readying exertion is nether information astatine that point. Any improvement would beryllium limited connected readying support and arsenic that process has not started, nan attraction for america continues to beryllium connected hosting racing adjacent twelvemonth and into nan future.”
Tuesday’s debate, though, will beryllium a reminder that some section residents and a coagulated mostly of nan sport’s fans and labor stay implacably opposed to nan bulldozing of Kempton.
The statement whitethorn besides spot renewed calls for a scaled-down development, which would let racing to continue. Ultimately, though, that would beryllium up to Barratt Redrow – because nan Jockey Club entered into a confidential action statement that efficaciously handed semipermanent power of nan tract to a housebuilder without nationalist scrutiny.
So successful nan longer-term consciousness of nan “future of British equine racing”, perhaps, it mightiness besides beryllium a bully clip for willing MPs to inquire whether, successful 2026, it should beryllium imaginable for nan ruling committee of a self-appointed club, drawn from a muster of scarcely 150 members, to efficaciously motion a much-loved racecourse’s decease warrant down closed doors.
