Racing has been “forcibly abandoned” at Chelmsford City Racecourse on Thursday and Friday following a decision by the board of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) not to grant a licence to Golden Mile Racing Limited (GMRL). The latter is the name of a new company formed to operate Chelmsford City Racecourse (CCR) in place of the previous licence holder Great Leighs Estates Limited (GLEL), which has been placed in administration.
A turn of events described by Chelmsford City's CEO Nathan Holmes as “a scandal” included declarations being taken on Wednesday morning by Weatherbys for the track's Good Friday meeting, which was set to carry total prize-money of £251,000. Two hours later the BHA made an announcement regarding the cancelled fixtures, stating that its “reasons for this decision are confidential”. A preliminary decision over licensing had been made by the BHA board on Sunday. GMRL was then allowed to make oral and written representations to board members on 31 March but failed to have the decision overturned.
Chelmsford City Racecourse now once again faces an uncertain future. Its meeting scheduled for April 9 has also been cancelled, with the possibility of future fixtures going ahead being dependent on the outcome of an appeal.
The BHA's statement released just after noon on Thursday read, “Having considered the matter carefully and taken full account of the points raised, the board's position remained that it did not consider it appropriate to grant a racecourse licence for CCR to GMRL.
“The Board's decision means GMRL is not licensed to stage any fixtures, pending the outcome of any appeal. This means that regrettably no further fixtures will be staged at CCR pending the outcome of any appeal process. This includes the fixtures on 2 April, 3 April and 9 April.
The licence held by GLEL expired on March 31, with the most recent meeting held at the track on March 26 having been given permission to go ahead with the agreement of the administrator. The April 2 and 3 fixtures will not be rescheduled.
The BHA statement continued, “Plans for future fixtures, including 9 April, will be announced in due course.
“The BHA has worked tirelessly with stakeholders to deliver this week's fixtures. It is regrettable they have been cancelled at such short notice. We recognise this will impact participants – especially trainers, staff and jockeys – as well as racegoers.”
Originally known as Great Leighs, racing began at Chelmsford under the ownership of John Holmes in 2008, but the track was shuttered in 2009 when the previous ownership company was placed in administration. Since its reincarnation as Chelmsford City Racecourse in 2015, the racecourse's operating licence had been held by Great Leighs Estates Limited. Corporate insolvency administrators were officially appointed for GLEL by the High Court on March 25.
The planned handover of the licence from GLEL to Golden Mile Racing Limited, which has John Holmes and his son Nathan listed as directors, is said to be part of a “planned corporate reorganisation”. That restructuring includes the racecourse venue having been separated from the racing operation in September 2024.
A document released by Chelmsford City Racecourse on Wednesday stated, “Golden Mile Racing Limited (GMRL) was established as a new entity with independent governance and access to new capital, to ensure the racing operation is independent from those historic issues – ensuring that the sport, its participants, its staff and its creditors were protected for the long term.”
Nathan Holmes said of the late cancellation of the Essex track's Easter meeting, “This is a disgraceful decision and an insult to the people who work tirelessly to make racing happen across the country. It directly impacts horsemen, the more than 8,000 racegoers who were due to attend, and broadcasters, with the wider financial consequences to the industry expected to run into millions of pounds.
“The manner in which this situation has been handled is deeply concerning. Chelmsford City Racecourse will be pursuing a legal challenge to recover all costs associated with this decision. This outcome stands in complete contradiction to the principles the British Horseracing Authority claims to uphold and raises serious questions regarding procedural fairness and appropriate governance
“Chelmsford City Racecourse is an award-winning venue and one of the busiest racecourses in the country in terms of attendance and fixture volume, supported by modern, high-quality facilities. To deny the new racing operator its licence and prevent racing from taking place this week is, quite simply, a scandal.”
The lateness of the announcement from the BHA, after running plans for Friday had been finalised through the declaration process, has elicited some criticism from participants. Trainer Stuart Williams, who had runners entered for all three all-weather meetings on Good Friday, said on social media, “This decision seemed inevitable from what had been in the press, but to pull the trigger after taking declarations for Friday's meet at 10am is a real slap in the face for owners/trainers and [jockeys]. Some of these races have been targeted for months. Tone deaf from [the BHA].”
Jockey Paddy Bradley said on his X account, “To allow declarations at 10am on the richest day of all weather racing of the year and then cancel the fixture an hour later leaving jockeys unable to ride at other meetings is disgraceful.”
Trainer John Berry added, “It's disappointing but one gets used to disappointment. And in our case the disappointment is tempered by the fact that the horse whom we had declared for Chelmsford on Friday, Merrijig, holds an entry for Kempton on Monday, so he can go there instead.
“What is hard to swallow, though, is the chaos. Obviously there was a question mark hanging over Chelmsford's future, both immediate and long-term, following the announcement last week of the course's financial troubles. But if the meetings were going to be called off, common sense said that it wouldn't be such an eleventh-hour debacle; and certainly the decision would be taken prior to declaration time, simply on the basis that the later it was left, the more inconvenience would be caused to more people.”
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