SBC News BHA approves of plans for Chelmsford turf track

BHA approves of plans for Chelmsford turf track

Subject to certain conditions, The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) Board has confirmed it has approved Chelmsford City Racecourse’s application to install a turf course for flat racing.

The deal comes after the original plans had been shelved, when the BHA’s March meeting concluded in an application from Chelmsford City Racecourse not being approved. However, the Board of the BHA later requested more information about the proposals, so they could reconsider the application at a future Board meeting.

Following further discussions between the BHA’s racecourse inspectorate team, PJA safety officers and racecourse representatives, and the provision of further information by the racecourse, the BHA Board has now approved the plans.

The BHA detailed the conditions of which the turf track can be built, outlining that: “Due to the track design and restricted number of race starts, other than in exceptional circumstances, and at the discretion of the BHA, no more than three turf races will be programmed on any BHA fixture allocated to the racecourse, with all other races on the card to take place on the All Weather track.

“Chelmsford City is strongly encouraged to adopt the same limit on the number of turf races at racecourse fixtures. The limit of three races could be reduced further in the event that, ultimately, the safety factor at any of their planned race starts is less than 10.

“At this stage, no turf races will be approved to take place in 2019 and all Chelmsford City Racecourse fixtures will be allocated to take place on the All Weather. This will be revisited once further progress has been made on the construction of the turf track, with a decision on the timing of the first turf races not required until the details of the races at each fixture are published in the programme book.”

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