Racehorses are set to return to Towcester
New owners Orchestrate have signalled their intentions for the return of racehorses to Towcester, which is the home of the Greyhound Derby.
Towcester ready for racehorses again
Plans are underway for the return of racehorses to Towcester this winter.
The racecourse was closed in 2019 when it was declared as financially unsustainable but investment in the venue’s horseracing facilities has been made by the venue’s new management, Orchestrate.
The company, owned by Mike Davis, recently agreed a 10-year lease deal for Towcester and all greyhound operations will also be run by Orchestrate.
Schooling days will be the start of the company’s horseracing interests and there are ambitions to stage “premium” point-to-point fixtures further down the line.
Speaking to the Racing Post, Orchestrate chief executive Richard Thomas said: “We’ve got a racecourse which is a really good training racecourse and we’ve started work on getting it back to its best.
“We’ve invested a lot of money in the grandstands and making everything look really smart, and all the drainage has been done at the track. It just needs rain now and then we’ll bring in a team to manage the turf husbandry.
“There are two or three months of additional work until we get to a stage where I’d want a course inspector to look at it.
“Our aim is to have schooling races throughout the jumps season and even possibly on the Flat, although this would need an effective watering system.”
Schooling days have been staged at racecourses and point-to-point tracks in the UK since the start of the year and their aim is to educate young horses.
Thomas continued: “We’d look to be ready for schooling days by the end of this year or early next year, but we’ve got to jump through a few hoops.
“The key is that racecourse and point-to-point tracks need to look after their ground and not have schooling on them so it’s there for racedays.
“The second phase we’re looking at is being the premium venue for point-to-point racing by have two, three or four really good meetings throughout the year where we can really spotlight the sport.
A return to racing under rules hasn’t been dismissed but Thomas did admit that would be a long way off.
He added: “Towcester doesn’t have any fixtures and that would be a difficult route to undertake. However, you could never rule that option out.
“There’s an absolute need to create a professional schooling centre and this is where we’ll concentrate in the first instance.”
