Huge news has just filtered through that Kempton Park is set to be sold to build housing estates on the land. The Jockey Club have made this tough decision but they feel it will be best for the overall health of British racing as it will open up a £500 Million purse which will be spent on racing over the next ten years. This is not a 100% guarantee though as it will only close if they guarantee enough money from the land.
Racing will continue at Kempton up until 2021 at the very least. This is a massive project and will take several years to finalise if it does go ahead at all. For the next four or five years, it will be business as usual so we still have a few epic King George’s to look forward to before it is moved on.
Before there are any changes to Kempton Park, a new all-weather track must be fully operational at Newmarket according to the Jockey Club. This is not good news for Chelmsford racecourse who built their all-weather circuit to satisfy the demand for a track of such nature in the area. The new site would be at The Links in Newmarket.
Sandown racecourse is only six miles away from Kempton so all of the best jumps races held at Kempton annually would be moved to the Esher track. This is a massive boost for Sandown who would be in receipt of major investment and development to their infrastructure and facilities. Most of the other jumps races would be spread out amongst some of the other racecourses across the UK.
Land in the London area is becoming more scarce and more valuable and the proposed plan is to build 3,000 homes on the land where Kempton Park is situated. The Jockey Club feel this is the correct decision for racing as although Kempton Park is a profitable racecourse, there is now a valuable opportunity to transform Sandown racecourse into a premier racing facility.
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