MUSSELBURGH Racecourse bosses have predicted a loss of £375,000 this year due to the industry shutdown.

Bill Farnsworth, course general manager, said he was hopeful the racecourse would be able to hold races behind closed doors by next month but did not expect to see spectators return before November.

He prediction came as the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) confirmed it had extended the course’s temporary racing licence by six months to the end of October.

That news followed criticism of the BHA over their refusal to extend the temporary racing licence more than one month at a time.

A meeting of MRAC (Musselburgh Racing Associated Committee) via online video service Skype this week was told that the extension was agreed after its current one-month extension ran out on April 30.

East Lothian Council has been negotiating with Chester Racing Company, which is due to take over the operation of the Musselburgh course. The course had previously been run by a governance committee made up of elected councillors and representatives of Lothians Racing Syndicate – originally Musselburgh Joint Racing Committee and more recently MRAC.

The decision to bring in a third party operator came after the BHA threatened to remove Musselburgh’s racing licence when relations between the members of the previous committee became toxic; one-month extensions have been in place to allow the new operator to come in.

However, at a MRAC meeting last month, the council’s legal adviser accused the BHA of acting “irresponsibly” by refusing to extend the licence to the end of the year, given what he has described as a “Covid-19 climate” which has delayed the handover.

At a meeting this week, Carlo Grilli told the committee the BHA has now extended the licence to the end of October.

Helen Bryce, head of legal at the BHA, confirmed the extension, following the meeting saying: “The board approved a licence extension in order to give a substantive period of time for the deal to appoint a third party operator to be resolved.

“We understand that the future outlook is uncertain and we will continue to work closely and collaboratively with the parties involved to try and reach a positive outcome.”

Mr Farnsworth said that it was estimated the racecourse would lose over £375,000 in 2020/21 after the cancellation of events such as Easter racing, Ladies Day and Harness Racing, as well as a loss of revenue from media rights, but he said that the industry was working hard to come up with ways to introduce racing behind closed doors.

He told the committee that he believed Musselburgh was the best-placed track in Scotland to accommodate these races and was “pushing to have Musselburgh at the top of the list”.

He said once the predicted loss had been adjusted against income anticipated from the sale of machinery and fittings to the new operators and profits from the previous year, along with other adjustments, the total loss could be much lower at the end of the year at £56,000.

However, his prediction depended on behind closed doors racing beginning in June, spectators returning in November, and East Lothian Council reducing the rent of the land during the closure.

Mr Farnsworth said: “I think Musselburgh is the best-placed race track north of Newcastle to start racing behind closed doors. My intention is to put Musselburgh at the very front of the queue. I am optimistic that Musselburgh will get through this.”

 

 

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