THE new operator of Musselburgh Racecourse is aiming to take over before its first fixture returns.

The racecourse hopes to see a return of racing, behind closed doors, at the end of the month with back to back fixtures proposed on June 30 and July 1.

And at a online video call meeting on Tuesday of Musselburgh Racing Associated Committee (MRAC), which oversees the racecourse, it was revealed new operator Chester Racing Company hopes to be in place before the first date.

East Lothian Council's legal adviser Carlo Grilli said negotiations over the takeover were ongoing but it was hoped Chester would be in place later this month.

He said: "Given the end of June has a potential fixture the proposal for Chester would be to take over a few days prior to the end of June to get a few days prior in."

East Lothian Council has been negotiating with Chester after it was named the preferred bidders for a contract to operate the course last year.

The course, which sits on common good land, 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 British Horseracing Authority (BHA)threatened to remove Musselburgh’s racing licence when relations between the members of the previous committee became toxic; one-month extensions were put in place to allow the new operator to come in.

Last month the BHA extended the licence until the end of October.

Councillor Fiona O'Donnell, MRAC chairperson,  said she and fellow members had held talks with Chester over their involvement in the town in the future.

She said: "It says a lot about Musselburgh that they are still very keen. Chester have some really positive intentions in terms of the local community as well and this is good news."

Councillor Stuart Currie, MRAC member, welcomed news Chester was still keen to take over,  pointing out the council could have been back to "square one" if they had taken a step back during the Covid-19 crisis.

He said: "That Chester is still taking over the running of the race course is really positive. It could have been the case that some people might have turned around and said they did not want to do anything right now and we would have been back at square one.

"It is important for the racing industry and it is important for the staff at Musselburgh."

The committee which met via Skype chose to hear a health and safety report and report by the racecourse general manager in private citing 'commercial reasons' for not discussing them in public.