GREAT LEIGHS.

Racing at Great Leighs will finally get underway on Sunday

GREAT LEIGHS, Britain's first new racecourse since Taunton began operating in 1927, will finally stage its first official meeting on Sunday.

The Essex track was given a belated thumbs-up by an inspectorate of the British Horseracing Authority following a do-or-die check at 9am on Friday morning.

Sunday's fixture is not open to the general public, with fine-tuning still required for some of the amenities, but a number of high-profile yards will be represented.

Ed Dunlop was complimentary in his assessment of the course after he attended a recent trialling day and will run Temple Of Thebes and Clearing House at the weekend.

"Obviously the staff there must have done an amazing amount of work between when I was there and now and I applaud them," said the Newmarket trainer.

"I don't imagine it'll be a beautiful experience watching it first time, but the track itself and the camberis fantastic.

"It'll be typical Polytrack and I expect it to bed down in time but it'll be an exciting start for them - it's been a long time coming.

"It can take us two hours or more to travel when we take horses to gallop at Lingfield and sometimes longer on the way back.

"It's more like 45 minutes for us Newmarket trainers to take horses to gallop (at Great Leighs), so it's an ideal distance for us to be able to go now."

Temple Of Thebes showed a decent level of form as a juvenile and Dunlop is hopeful she can make a little history by shedding her maiden tag in the Stan James At Great Leighs Maiden Fillies' Stakes, which will be the first race run at the course.

"We had her in at Wolverhampton but she had a minor bruise to theheel, which has now healed up," he continued.
"She's shown some decent form, but she goes left in her races.

"We've hopefully ironed that problem out but we obviously wanted to run her at a left-handed track, hence looking at Wolverhampton and Great Leighs."

John Holmes, owner of Great Leighs, admits it is not ideal that the first few meetings will not be open to members of the public, who will have to wait until May 28 to attend.

However, after so many unforeseen hold-ups, he is very much looking forward to the day.

"We're very excited, but at the same time we realise we've got a job to do before racing over the next 24 hours," said Holmes.

"It has been a long time coming, but we have a nice card on Sunday and it's unfortunate that we're not going to be open to the public.

"We have two very nice fixtures on the 28th and 29th of May and we're looking forward to that.

"We're having four bookmakers turn up on Sunday and generally speaking we'll be lookingat around 10 - the betting ring is adjacent to the grandstand."

Looking further ahead, Holmes harbours ambitions that Great Leighs will prove sufficiently successful to stage a Breeders' Cup trial meeting in advance of the main event in America.

"We need to be very clear that this would be a trial (meeting) later in the year and we're very anxious to see the verdict after Sunday's meeting," he told At The Races.

"But the course was designed for that sort of meeting - it's got sweeping bends, a nice wide track and no bias from the draw.

"I think it's the ideal track for a springboard for the Breeders' Cup."

Had to have a bet on the first fav at the new track and glad to say an easy winner!!

Looks like a tip..but then it is in Essex.

Relief all round as Great Leighs gets off to smooth start

Great Leighs: first new racecourse in Britain since Taunton opened in 1927

A FRESH chapter in racing's history books started on Sunday as Great Leighs became the first new racecourse to open in Britain for more than 80 years – to the relief of the management and praise from professionals.

Last-minute maintenance, even as eight maiden fillies paraded for the historic opening race, told the tale that the former Essex County Show ground is nowhere near ready to entertain the paying public.

Cash-carrying racegoers will come on to the site for the first time on May 28-29, six meetings into Great Leighs's programme, but before then an enormous amount of work has to be done, most notably on the main, semi-permanent grandstand.

However, simply staging seven races safely and with no undue alarms, was more than many regular visitors, including BHA course inspectors, had imagined possible even a fortnight ago - and still questioned after the first track trials seven days previously.

BHA chief executive Nic Coward, whose BHB predecessor Greg Nichols steered the governing authority into giving Great Leighs formal approval in March 2004, summed up: "It's great that the course has opened."

BHA racecourses director Tony Goodhew, who has trodden a well-worn path between his Wiltshire home and the Essex countryside over the last three years, added: "The management has done remarkably well since this time last week, and they've met all the criteria.

"There's a good feeling about the place. There's still a lot to do, and no doubt today will throw up new things to think about, but it's all about detail.

"It's been a long time coming, but it's great to have got there."

Paul Dixon, on hand in triple capacity as BHA director, Racehorse Owners' Association president and owner of third-placed Cerebus, also referred to "work in progress".

He said: "The place is going in the right direction and it could be a very good venue for the future. You can imagine it being heavy going on a Saturday night. "The track itself looks superb. It's big and galloping, and there shouldn't really be a draw bias, so if they continue to put up good money, people will bring their horses here."

Course promoter John Holmes, for whom yesterday was the culmination of 11 years' planning since he bought the site, said: "We've created a charming destination, but I'm not ready for the public just yet."

Still, Holmes was both relieved and heartened by the general reaction, saying: "I'm overwhelmed how nice and how supportive everyone has been. They seem genuinely pleased for us."

"We'll be controlling numbers all through the year; you won't see 20,000 people on the site for a while yet. We're treating this summer as a series of parties."

Describing himself as "a visionary" to a posse of media members, who made up a significant part of the privileged attendees, Holmes pinpointed a list of items on his forward-looking agenda.

He said work would begin next year on the permanent grandstand, which was part of the original £40 million scheme but slipped into phase two as the buildings, and budget, were halved.

However, Holmes allowed himself the proviso that he may change his mind if the current stand - a huge construction last seenat the Ryder Cup in Ireland in 2006 but still to be fitted out - served its purpose.

A possible Breeders' Cup trial meeting on Saturday, September 27, with racing that mimics at least four races at the real thing at Santa Anita, is on the cards.

However, Holmes has yet to sign contracts with a potential sponsor, and broadcasting deals with the east coast of America are still being explored.

The turf course, inside the Polytrack, will be seeded this year, for use in late 2009 or more likely some time in 2010.

For now, Holmes reflected: "The great thing is that we're open."