| Situated near Chelmsford in Essex, Great Leighs racecourse
opened for business on 20th April 2008 and was the first racecourse to be opened in
England for 81 years, the last being Taunton in 1927. It was the brainchild of John Holmes
and his thinking was to serve an area of the country not previously served by a course.
Indeed the Great Leighs course was ideally positioned for the Newmarket trainers barely 80
kilometres away, and for the punters of Greater London. It boasted a grandstand capable of
serving 10,000 people and an all weather polytrack course of just slightly more than a
mile around. From day one the course hit setbacks having previously been due to open two years before in October 2006. To ensure that there were no hitches once it opened to the public a day for invited guests only was arranged for 4th April 2008. However, this had to be changed and was rescheduled for 20th April. All went well at the meeting and the first public meeting took place on 28th May 2008. Despite being ideally placed it failed to secure the numbers expected and was placed in administration in January 2009. |
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Attempts to relaunch the course have, to date, been
unsuccessful even though the Northern Racing Group showed considerable interest. More
recently it is believed that a different group of prospective buyers has shown an interest
in buying the track and establishing it as a racecourse once again, and it is rumoured
that they have Arab links. It is very much hoped that racing can return to Essex at some stage in the future. |
| I am greatly indebted to Richard English for the very rare badge scan | |