Save British Racing

In 2016, Spelthorne Council in London issued a “call for sites” in an aim to address the need for local housing.

Obviously as I live in Northumberland this piece of information completely passed me by, until January 10^th this year when the hallowed entity that is The Jockey Club announced that they had submitted Kempton Park Racecourse for consideration.

When this news was first publicised, there was a sharp intake of breath throughout the racing fraternity. The shock was palpable and once everyone had regained the use of their faculties, Twitter very quickly turned into the House of Commons.

This decision (and I’m just a punter who has never been to Kempton) makes me feel as though someone has just walked into my house on Christmas morning and urinated on my presents.

Actually no, that’s not true; it’s way off the mark. This decision by The Jockey Club makes me feel as though some bastard has broken into my house in broad daylight, kidnapped Britney (not her real name), had an affair with Other Half, stolen my turkey, killed my cat, eaten half my Christmas pudding, slashed my saddle with a Stanley Knife, smashed the screen on my phone, taken the charger, stolen my favourite jodhpurs, punctured my car tyres, stuck pins in my wellies, stolen all my spare contact lenses for my right eye, left the kitchen tap running, urinated on my presents and cut off my electricity so I am unable to watch the racing from Kempton on Boxing Day.

Christmas for Britney happens on Christmas Day and Christmas for me occurs on Boxing Day, when I demand a large Martini and silence; to watch the 3 mile King George VI Chase from Kempton.

My Mother even understands the importance of Kempton Park on Boxing Day. She now asks if we would like to go to her house for lunch if it’s frosty at Kempton and racing has been abandoned.

The King George is the second biggest Jump race in Britain, the only race more important is the Gold Cup at the Festival of Racing at Cheltenham in March.

Whilst the Grand National is an important race, the Grand National meeting at Aintree in April is when all and sundry get dressed up in very little and proceed to drink their own weight in lager. The people who go to Kempton and Cheltenham, love racing. Dressed in lots of layers and a tweed coat, they go to watch the racing and if they are feeling flush, will spend £8.50 on a glass of wine the size of a thimble.

The Jockey Club has a tremendous plan in place should Kempton be accepted for housing development: The King George will move to nearby Sandown Park. This is like asking Newcastle United to use the Stadium of Light as their home venue; and be happy about it.

The Jockey Club has also said that they will build a shiny and new all weather track at Newmarket 100 miles away, to replace Kempton’s all weather circuit. Newmarket might be the home of British Flat Racing with a history 350 years deep, but the reason Newmarket Racecourse always has bumper crowds is because 1 in every 3 people who live in Newmarket, works in the racing industry.

I’m also a bit puzzled by the figures that The Jockey Club has quoted. For one, the sale of Kempton would raise 1.5 million English pounds and the Jockey Club has pledged that 500 million pounds would then be re-invested into British Racing. They’ve also said that if Kempton isn’t chosen for development; they won’t be investing 500 million at all.

Kempton Park was established in 1878 and being only 16 miles from London City Centre, is one of the most profitable racecourses in the Country. Should Kempton be accepted for such a proposal, racing would cease in 2021 and after the site has been bulldozed, around 3000 houses would be built on the site.

This year Kempton has 71 scheduled fixtures, both over the jumps and on their crappy all weather flat track. You might have guessed that I’m not much of a fan of Flat Racing. If I’m going to lose my money, I want to lose it over 4 minutes and not 40 seconds. And I haven’t the legs for Flat racing. When I go to the races, it’s to watch jump racing when, you wear thermals and a warm coat and hat. Not something that you threw on and very nearly missed.

But do you know what? If you want to go and watch horses gallop around on the all weather track; then good for you, because at the end of the day it’s all about going racing and supporting the industry. #comeracing

At Kempton there are weekly markets, twice monthly antique markets and as well as other community inspired attractions, the Police also use the course to train their Police Dogs.

I was busy making my placard and finding some chains with which to anchor myself to the gates of Kempton Park, when I thought I had better have a look at Spelthorne Council’s website, just in case I was missing something.

And it was then that I realised that Twitter and ITV Racing hadn’t really given me the full story. Because it turns out that the people who live near Kempton Park do not want the Green Belt land of Kempton turned into a housing estate either. And to be fair, why would they? Even if they hate horse racing surely it is better to have somewhere that is green in colour to walk around rather than a housing estate?

Councillor Ian Harvey even wrote a “belter” of a letter to the proposed developer, Redrow Homes back in April last year. He states he is “greatly surprised” that Redrow are continuing to try and develop 1500 homes on Kempton Park. My favourite bit is when he says “Despite mischievous PR, Spelthorne Borough Council has no intention of ‘working alongside’ Redrow Homes or any other private company on a local plan.” I was so impressed with his letter that you can read it for yourself here.

Many years ago when I worked at Miserable Finance Limited, I worked with a family who desperately wanted to buy their rented farm.

“They have to buy it.” I told my boss “They’ve spent their lives there.”

“You are far too sentimental.” he replied.

Yes I am.

And that is why I will travel to London armed with a placard, a length of chain and a padlock with no key, should this ridiculous nightmare become reality.