Chelmsford City Racecourse

Opening

Great Leighs racecourse was originally scheduled to open in October 2006, but the opening was deferred several times. On 20 March 2008, the racecourse announced that the opening fixture would be postponed to 20 April 2008, with the original opening date, 4 April 2008, being used a test day.

Eventually, on 20 April 2008, the racecourse staged its first race meeting before an invited audience, with the opening race being won by Temple of Thebes. The first meeting with full public admission took place on 28 May 2008. The venue attracted some praise for some of its racing facilities but considerable criticism for the incomplete state of its visitor facilities. Attendances failed to meet expectations. The 10,000-capacity grandstand was used at the 2006 Ryder Cup.

Closure and suspension of racing

The course was placed into administration and its temporary racing licence revoked on 16 January 2009. In March 2009, the administrators announced that the two parties that had made bids for the course had failed to demonstrate that they had sufficient financial backing. The administrators stated that they would enter into negotiations with the main creditor, the Royal Bank of Scotland, to see whether it was willing to take ownership of the course, and contract out the management of its operations to an established racecourse operator.

The administrators subsequently made a deal with a local businessman, Terry Chambers, to lease the course to him for 18 months, but the course was unable to obtain a racing licence and was, therefore, ineligible to bid for fixtures for 2010. In September 2009, the administrators announced that they had struck a deal for Chambers and Bill Gredley to buy the racecourse with the hope that racing could resume in 2011, but the deal fell through. In June 2010 the administrators announced that they had given up hope of selling the business as a going concern and had started discussions with the Royal Bank of Scotland to find an alternative use for the site.

In March 2011 it was reported that Andrew Tinkler, chief executive of Eddie Stobart Ltd, was in discussions with Royal Bank of Scotland about reopening the track as a racecourse.

The course was bought by MC Racetracks in November 2011, but in May 2012 the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) rejected a bid to host fixtures at Great Leighs in 2013 but said that the owners were "welcome to submit an application to be part of the 2014 fixture list". In January 2013 MC Racetracks announced that they would submit an application to the BHA to hold racing at the course in 2014 but in June 2013, the BHA announced that it had rejected the application for 2014 fixtures.

Late in 2013, it was reported that a syndicate headed by Betfred's proprietor, Fred Done, had bought the track and was, as 'Chelmsford City Racecourse', to seek BHA approval for 2015 fixtures. In April 2014, the BHA announced that Great Leighs could apply to host fixtures in 2015 but without a guarantee of an expansion of all-weather fixtures.

The BHA announced, in July 2014, that the course would be allocated 12 fixtures for racing in 2015, a figure subsequently increased to 58 meetings when the 2015 fixture list was published. The BHA announced that the course would stage its reopening meeting on 11 January 2015.

Reopening

The course reopened for racing on 11 January 2015, with an invited crowd of 800 people present, with the full public reopening taking place on 22 January 2015. The first race was won by a short head by Tryster, trained by Charlie Appleby. On 27 December 2015, racing from Chelmsford City appeared on Channel 4 Racing for the first time following waterlogging at Chepstow and the abandonment of the Welsh Grand National. In January 2017 Chelmsford City announced plans to build a casino and develop a new turf course inside the existing all-weather track.

Chelmsford City Racecourse’s first Listed race which was created in 2018. The Queen Charlotte Fillies' Stakes, open to fillies and mares aged four years or older is run over a distance of 7 furlongs and was the UK's most valuable Listed race in 2022 and 2023 with a value of £100,000.

A second Listed race was created in 2019, the Chelmer Fillies' Stakes, open to fillies aged three years. It is run over a distance of 6 furlongs in late April or early May.

In addition to these Listed races, the Cardinal Stakes over a distance of 1 mile and open to three-year-old horses is a feature. The race was run for the first time in 2019 as the finale of seven races in the European Road to the Kentucky Derby series and carrying a purse of £100,000 as well as earning points and the chance to qualify for the Kentucky Derby. The race was removed from the Kentucky Derby qualification series in 2025.

Notable races

References

References

1. (16 December 2010). "Discussions on Great Leighs racecourse future held". BBC News.
2. (20 March 2008). "Great Leighs debut delayed again". BBC.
3. (20 April 2008). "Great Leighs stages first meeting". BBC.
4. (16 January 2009). "Newest racecourse put in administration". BBC.
5. link. (6 July 2011 , ''creditman.biz'', 19 March 2009.)
6. (5 June 2009). "Great Leighs ‘knew why its licence was rejected’". Echo.
7. (9 September 2009). "Great Leighs takeover is agreed". BBC.
8. (9 June 2010). "No buyers come forward for Great Leighs racecourse". BBC.
9. J. A. McGrath. (25 February 2011). "Andrew Tinkler wants to re-open Great Leighs racecourse". telegraph.co.uk.
10. (24 May 2012). "BBC Sport - Great Leighs racecourse fixture bid refused". BBC Sport.
11. (30 January 2013). "Great Leighs applies to host races in 2014". BBC.
12. (27 June 2013). "Great Leighs fails with second BHA fixture bid". BBC.
13. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/horseracing/10528114/Great-Leighs-could-stage-racing-in-2015-as-Chelmsford-City-Racecourse-after-Betfred-takeover.html ''Daily Telegraph'' 19 December 2013 - Great Leighs could stage racing in 2015 as Chelmsford City Racecourse after Betfred takeover. Accessed 24 January 2014]
14. (28 April 2014). "Great Leighs & Newcastle all-weather can apply for fixtures". BBC Sport.
15. (15 July 2014). "Chelmsford City racecourse awarded 12 fixtures for 2015". BBC Sport.
16. "Chelmsford City Racecourse in Great Leighs granted 58 fixtures for 2015".
17. (10 January 2015). "Chelmsford City racecourse ready for historic first meeting". BBC Sport.
18. "Plan for new turf track and casino moves a big step closer". [[Racing Post]].
19. (24 May 2018). "Chelmsford to stage richest evening meeting in UK as prize fund pips Sandown". Racing Post.
20. (6 February 2019). "Upgrades to British Flat Pattern announced for 2019 following European Pattern Committee meeting". British Horseracing Authority.
21. (6 September 2024). "Churchill Modifies Road to the Kentucky Derby for 2025". Blood Horse.