It has taken the better part of a decade but the Jockey Club, the private, self-appointed body that has wielded immense power in racing for nearly 300 years, seems poised to realise its long-standing ambition to see one of the sport’s most historic racecourses bulldozed for housing. If the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day is on your racing bucket list, next week’s renewal might be one of the final chances to tick it off.
That, sadly, is the only conclusion to be drawn from what was almost a throwaway comment by Jim Mullen, the Jockey Club’s new chief executive, to the Racing Post’s industry editor, Bill Barber, over the weekend.
“Kempton,” Mullen said, “is out of my hands,” before adding: “Back in 2018 the Jockey Club and [the developer] Redrow negotiated an option to develop Kempton and that option was negotiated and transferred to Redrow. They have the option to exercise that for development, but since I’ve been here [from April 2025] there have been no concrete plans or agreements to develop it. But they do have the option to do so.”
This was the trade paper’s first mention of an option to develop Kempton (although its existence was first revealed by the Sun in June this year). The timing of Mullen’s comment, though, feels significant, as the government’s planning and infrastructure bill – which will limit the powers of local councils to block developments – is currently awaiting royal assent.
It would be no great surprise were Redrow to exercise its option to buy Kempton as swiftly as possible. The Jockey Club’s initial plan to consign the 147-year-old track to the wrecking ball envisaged 3,000 houses on what is, from a developer’s perspective, an irresistible plot a stone’s throw from the M25, and with a pre-existing rail connection to Waterloo in 46 minutes. The new law will likely ensure that no amount of local opposition, or the site’s status as “strongly-performing” green belt land, will save it.
The Jockey Club likes to trumpet the fact that it operates under a royal charter, and states on its website that this requires it to “act for the long-term good of British racing in everything [the Club’s italics] we do”. It is also the largest employer and commercial organisation in British racing.
The ongoing saga of the attempt to bulldoze Kempton, however, is a reminder that while the Jockey Club claims to be thoroughly modern and commercial in its outlook, there is more than a hint of feudalism about its governance, membership and decision-making. Ultimate power lies, as it has since the club was founded in 1750, with nine stewards, elected from within the ranks of around 200 members that are, in turn, recruited by invitation only.
The overwhelmingly negative response to the Jockey Club’s initial proposals for Kempton in January 2017, from fans, trainers, jockeys and owners within racing as well as Spelthorne borough council and local residents, prompted an alternative proposal for the site in February 2020 with 500 houses and racing continuing.
What we know now that we did not know then, however, is that Redrow had been sitting on an effective 12-year option for the site since 2018. The lord of the manor had already effectively relinquished control over the land, but saw no reason to inform the serfs.
The King George at Kempton is one of the most cherished and storied races in the jumping calendar. Mill House, Arkle, Desert Orchid and Kauto Star are among the great champions that have thrilled the Boxing Day audience down the years. The fact that Kempton’s flat, right-handed track is very different to Cheltenham’s demanding contours makes it a test of a chaser’s versatility, and it takes a true great to complete the King George/Gold Cup double.
It is also within easy reach of the jumping hotbed of Lambourn, and Nicky Henderson – who once threatened to lie in front of the bulldozers should the demolition plans come to pass – is among the many trainers to have used it to introduce future stars of the winter game. And while its extensive programme of all-weather Flat racing is not to all tastes, it generates so much media rights income from off-course betting that Kempton is believed to be the third-most profitable track in the Jockey Club’s 15-strong portfolio.
While it is handy for Lambourn, however, it is a long way away from the Jockey Club’s home in Newmarket, the headquarters of Flat racing, where the Club has suggested it could build a new all-weather track with some of the hundreds of millions of pounds it would realise from the sale of Kempton.
That, clearly, would be in the long-term interests of the Jockey Club. Whether it is in the long-term interests of the sport as a whole, as the club’s royal charter demands, is a different question entirely.
Lingfield: 11.05 Seventy 11.35 Counsel 12.05 Blue Nguru 12.35 Chelio 1.05 Free Your Spirit 1.35 Me Tarzan 2.10 Mersea Island 2.45 Naval Ensign 3.20 Warrnambool.
Newbury: 11.53 Jig’s Forge 12.23 Cayman Dancer 12.53 Kadastral 1.23 Kripticjim 1.58 Mighty Bandit 2.33 Fine Casting 3.08 Saxons Pride.
Ludlow: 12.13 Un Sens A La Vie 12.43 Authoceltic 1.13 Pottersville 1.45 Destroytheevidence 2.20 Whitletts 2.55 Pougne Aminta 3.30 Inca De Lafayette.
Kempton: 4.05 Westcombe 4.40 Outflank 5.10 Aqpan 5.40 Purest Time (nb) 6.10 Dubai Honour 6.40 Unassuming (nap) 7.10 Super Hit 7.40 Beau Jardine 8.10 Miss Moonshine.
And it is the same royal charter that has effectively allowed the stewards of the Jockey Club to secretly cede control of one of the sport’s prized assets into the hands of a developer, in the face of overwhelming opposition, with no oversight and no accountability. In the third decade of the 21st century, the Jockey Club’s governance still seems stuck in the mid-18th.
Before writing this column, I asked the Jockey Club to explain the reasoning behind its decision to give Redrow an option on the Kempton Park site in 2018, whether this was unanimously approved by the stewards at the time, why the decision remained secret for seven years and whether the Club was confident that it had not breached the terms of its royal charter to act “in the best interests of British racing?”.
Exeter 12.30 Lasko Des Obeaux 1.00 Bluey 1.30 Way Of Stars 2.00 Gyenyame 2.30 Saint Cyr De Pail 3.00 Thankyouandplease 3.30 Dish Of The Day
Ffos Las 1.10 Getaway With You 1.40 Pottersville 2.10 River Voyage 2.40 Lady Harriet 3.10 Genietoile 3.40 Kiptanuy
Southwell 1.22 Von Krolock 1.52 Baker Blue 2.22 One And Gone 2.52 Paradise Walk 3.22 Rising Force 3.52 Angel Of England 4.22 Moostar 4.52 Popular Dream 5.22 Late Claim
Chelmsford 5.00 Windbreaker 5.30 Rogue Icon 6.00 Rosieisme Darling 6.30 Raveena 7.00 Fancy Dancer 7.30 Charlie Mason (nb) 8.00 Calyxoh (nap) 8.30 Parlando
A spokesperson for the club said in a statement on Monday: “Kempton remains the subject of a deal agreed in 2018 that gave a housebuilder the right to purchase the course for a significant sum if they were to achieve planning consent to build on it. That has not changed and the right expires in 2028, with a limited ability to extend if a planning application is under consideration. Any future change is determined by the gaining of planning permission.”
