Chelmsford City became a licensed racecourse on Monday night as the track formerly known as Great Leighs passed its final inspection before its planned first day’s racing on Sunday.
A course official reported that the building process had recovered from delays caused by bad weather in recent months but said ticket sales for its first three fixtures this month would have to be restricted while the site’s ability to cope was tested.
“It’s looking good, the grandstand’s complete,” said Joe Scanlon, who was appointed chairman of Chelmsford City when the bookmaker Fred Done became involved as an owner of the site in late 2013. “We’ve got a bit of work to do on the ticket office and a couple of other areas.
“But the British Horseracing Authority were here this morning for a final inspection and they tell me that a licence will be issued later today, so that’s a major hurdle over.” The BHA later confirmed that a licence had indeed been granted.
Scanlon confirmed that hold-ups had left construction of the grandstand about three weeks behind schedule at one point last month but the structure has now been finished and is expected to have a capacity of between 3,000 and 4,000. The building has cost £6m, about a third of the investment so far made by Done, including the cost of buying into the site.
“Everything here is new, new staff, new kitchens, so it will take us a bit of time to get everything right,” Scanlon added. “Sunday’s fixture will be invitation only, restricted to 500 or 600 people. We could have sold several thousand and my apologies that we have had to disappoint so many potential customers but we first want to test that everything works.
“The grand opening is probably now going to be on Sunday 1 February. We’ll have three test meetings this month, to which the great and good will be invited, and we’ll probably sell tickets to limited numbers. Much depends on how this Sunday goes.”
Scanlon also addressed concerns about the continued involvement in the project of John Holmes, who owned the site when it was Great Leighs and who was declared bankrupt in the wake of the track going into administration in 2009.
Holmes is a consultant to Betsi, which owns part of the site, while his partner Jill Turner has been working as a consultant to the racecourse. Both Holmes and Turner were arrested in 2013 in relation to a case of alleged VAT fraud. The HMRC remain unwilling to provide any update.
“Betsi is a media company that owns 50% of the company that owns the racecourse,” Scanlon said. “John Holmes is not a director of the racecourse or of Betsi and he has no influence over how we run our business.
“In fact, he is contractually restricted from having any involvement in the day-to-day running of the business or in the management of the course. That’s something he had to agree to. He’s a consultant for Betsi regarding media exposure but that doesn’t contravene anything that we’ve asked for or anything that anyone else has asked for.”
In relation to Turner, Scanlon said: “She acted for Deloittes [administrators] for the last six years and has been helping us with the planning and the licensing aspects. She’s been very helpful and I have no qualms about the racecourse using her on a consultancy basis. I’d much rather have her help than not.”
The barren spell endured by the trainer Jonjo O’Neill, which began after his last winner on 19 November, continued at Lingfield on Monday when his Cloudy Copper, ridden by the champion jockey Tony McCoy, was beaten by 15 lengths by the 10-1 shot Leo Luna at odds of 2-5. The handler has five runners scheduled to run at Bangor on Tuesday.
