Great leighs

hear the tallyman came a knocking(to be confirmned)



Britain's newest racecourse, Great Leighs, has been forced to cancel Thursday's floodlit evening meeting after its licence was revoked.

Officials at the £30m all-weather track told BBC Sport they hope to be racing again before the end of January.

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has refused to grant a licence, but the reasons for its decision are unclear.

"Unless a new application is made and is successful, there is no licence in place for racing," said the BHA.

The flat track near Chelmsford in Essex opened in 2008 after being beset by delays to the construction project.

Thursday's scheduled meeting will now be switched to Kempton Park.

It has emerged the Great Leighs course has been operating under a temporary licence since the start of 2009.

We ran four fixtures under a temporary licence but the process has taken longer than we hoped

Great Leighs spokesman John Holmes
An application by the course's managers, the Essex County Showground Group, for a new licence to run until the end of January was declined at a BHA meeting.

The BHA has not made public the reasons for its decision.

Course spokesman John Holmes told BBC Sport the track was undergoing "a restucturing process" and would try again on Monday for a new licence.

"We successfully ran four fixtures this month under a temporary licence but the process has taken longer than we hoped," he said.

"We applied for an extension to cover the next two (22 and 29 January) fixtures but were told we had not supplied enough information. Because of the timing for entries, we have lost next Thursday's fixture.

"We are back at the BHA on Monday with a view to resuming racing from 29 January."

The course was originally due to open in October 2006 but suffered several delays before its official opening on 20 April, 2008.

It was given a mixed reception, receiving some criticism over the standard of its facilities and muddy conditions worsened by heavy rainfall.

But meetings have been staged there regularly, with footballers Owen Hargreaves, Roque Santa Cruz and Claudio Pizarro among those to visit.

The trio saw their horse Audemar win at the track in October.

course put in administration

Great Leighs was Britain's first new racecourse since Taunton in 2007
Britain's newest racetrack Great Leighs has been placed in administration.

The administrators Deloitte are talking to the British Horseracing Authority, to try to secure the course's racing licence to help it continue to trade.

The £30m all-weather course cancelled Thursday's floodlit meeting after its licence was revoked by the BHA.

Are they selling the floodlight? I know someone that's looking for a set.

LOL!

Naughty Davey. . .

GREAT LEIGHS racecourse, crushed under an avalanche of debts when forced to close its doors on Friday, should be racing again, under new ownership, in around six weeks' time.
john holmes great leighs owner



That was the firm indication on Wednesday from Deloitte's corporate finance partner Carlton Siddle, who was officially called in last week when the dreams of track founder John Holmes were broken by financial difficulties, forcing the Essex track into administration.

Potential buyers are circling, said Biddle, with Arena Leisure the 2-1 favourite from other racecourse groupings, and Ladbrokes quoted at odds of 8-1.

Speaking publicly for the first time since his appointment, Siddle told the Racing Post: "We have already been approached by a number of parties, all of whom wish to continue racing at Great Leighs.

"We have a duty to creditors to realise the most advantageous amount from the sale of the assets, and Great Leighs is being marketed as a going concern as a racecourse.

"We are not marketing it as a break-up, and the principal interest we have had so far has acknowledged that."

Siddle's process is aimed at culminating in a sale in the middle of next month. An information memorandum, outlining the assets for sale and a range of issues that bidders would need to consider when formulating an offer, is expected to be made available to interested parties on Thursday.

Sources have suggested that the companies in administration are saddled with around £25 million of debt and loans. Siddle declined to comment. "That is not my information to give out," he said.

wonder how the owners of the soon to be open Ffos las are feeling at the moment

www.ffoslasracecourse.co.uk/2009_schedule.html

your up early ?

Great Leighs' administrators have announced they will not be seeking a temporary racing licence for the track following discussions with the British Horseracing Authority.

Britain's newest course was operating under a temporary licence until earlier in the month, when the BHA refused it an extension.

Deloitte were appointed as administrators to the group of companies that own and operate Great Leighs shortly afterwards.

A deadline has been set for interested parties to submit indicative offers by the close of business on 6 February, with a view to completing a sale of the Essex track shortly afterwards.

A statement from the administrators said that as a consequence of the decision not to seek a temporary licence, it has been necessary to make 17 staff, predominantly in racing-related roles, redundant.

Carlton Siddle, joint administrator and Deloitte partner, said: "While the joint administrators will not be applying for a temporary racing licence, we are hopeful that a sale of the business and the granting of a full licence to the new owners can be achieved, allowing the new owners to stage the remaining 2009 fixtures.

"In the absence of racing at Great Leighs we have unfortunately had to make redundancies. We are grateful to the management and staff of Great Leighs for their support during this uncertain time."

BHA spokesman Paul Struthers added: "At present all fixtures are owned by Essex County Showground Group Limited (in administration), but they do not have a licence.

"If there is to be a restructuring involving the transfer of fixtures then any prospective purchaser will have to have the consent of the Authority, and if they wish to operate as a racecourse they will have to apply for and be granted a licence."

Track has been renamed Chelmsford City and given 15 fixtures for 2015

Bloody hell was reading this and the noticed it was a 5 year old thread
Lol