Chelmsford meetings for this Thursday and Friday have been cancelled
Racing has been abandoned at Chelmsford City Racecourse on Thursday and Friday following a decision by the board of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) not to grant a licence to Golden Mile Racing Limited (GMRL). The latter is the name of a new company formed to operate Chelmsford City Racecourse (CCR) in place of the previous licence holder Great Leighs Estates Limited (GLEL), which has been placed in administration.
Declarations were taken on Wednesday morning by Weatherbys for Chelmsford’s Good Friday meeting, which was advertised as being worth a total of £251,000. Two hours later the BHA released its decision, stating its “reasons for this decision are confidential”. No future fixtures will be run at the Essex track pending the outcome of a potential appeal.
This followed a preliminary decision made by the BHA board at the weekend. GMRL has then allowed to make oral and written representations to the board on 31 March.
The BHA’s statement released just after noon on Thursday stated, “Having considered the matter carefully and taken full account of the points raised, the board’s position remained that it did not consider it appropriate to grant a racecourse licence for CCR to GMRL.
“The Board’s decision means GMRL is not licensed to stage any fixtures, pending the outcome of any appeal. This means that regrettably no further fixtures will be staged at CCR pending the outcome of any appeal process. This includes the fixtures on 2 April, 3 April and 9 April.
“In accordance with the Rules of Racing, GMRL may appeal the board’s decision to the independent Licensing Committee (Rule (B)19). A request for permission to appeal must be made to the Judicial Panel Executive within 21 days of receipt of the decision being challenged (Judicial Panels Code, paragraph 105). The 21-day time period starts from the date GMRL receives the written reasons.”
The licence held by GLEL expired on March 31, with the most recent meeting held at the track on March 26 having been given permission to go ahead with the agreement of the administrator. The April 2 and 3 fixtures will not be rescheduled.
The statement continued, “Plans for future fixtures, including 9 April, will be announced in due course.
“The BHA has worked tirelessly with stakeholders to deliver this week’s fixtures. It is regrettable they have been cancelled at such short notice. We recognise this will impact participants – especially trainers, staff and jockeys – as well as racegoers.”
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