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KEMPTON PARK TO SHUT FROM 2021
KEMPTON PARK TO SHUT FROM 2021
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Replies: 399
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How many paying customers tonight at Kempton?
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At a guess lady Carla 200
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Don't think it's going to be to bad after tomorrow democrat
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Having read in the RP today that the Jockey Club is massively in debt, I have to wonder how much of the money from the sale will be re-invested in racing and how much wll go towards tryng to plug that huge hole?
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you've hit the nail on the head BB
the land at kempton is getting sold off to square the circle |
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They could need even more money later in the year as they are involved in a court case over contracts where incidentally both sides are 1/10 to win according to both there legal teams .
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Kempton's attendance rarely falls below 1000
But as 800 as usual hidden away indoors, you won't be far off the mark  |
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The thing about visiting a lot of racecourses is that for many people you might as well be in a bookies that serves booze and food....I have seen the future....mega supermarket hanger sized bookies serving booze and food...its a winner!
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I suppose a few remarks from the great unwashed will always be dismissed out of hand, and you know what, it makes not a difference to me or my life! Why would i care?
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I have no intention of leaving my warm seat in the long term.
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But i can still take the piss out the elite body of racing who remain clueless, ignorant, lacking ideas and in dept because of this!
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its all about money the offer on the table runs into millions kempton park would not make that in the next 50 years...dwindling crowds etc etc
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Jockey Club looking to pimp Kempton out, p!ssing away the family silver. Incompetent b@stards.
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Imagine the mess Arena are gonna be in.
Still we will have 3 racetracks at Skinmarket, you could not make it up! |
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Going the same way as football clubs. Prime development land sold off.
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just wording I suppose, I like the Tote exchange monopoly.
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a bit like rocking horse sh1t then??
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take a look at the best prize money countries they dont have bookmakers ...tote only
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The UK is unique to racing around the world, it is one of the few to take a stand against any sort of Tote monopoly, I wonder if that is the reason for its debt?
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spot on john
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an industry exchange could work over here
a tote monopoly would be a disaster people forget that racing in places like the US is largely funded by the FOBTs at the track look at the pools at some of the tracks there is barely 4 figures in them |
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Is Kempton Park failing commercially?
Quite the opposite – Kempton Park is a highly profitable racecourse. taken from the JC web site. I've not seen the article about JC debt however I would expect it to be substantial owing to the redevelopment of Cheltenham ;a project which they funded from bonds issued to subscribers including myself and which are due for repayment in 2018. |
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Unfortunately the racing authorities missed a golden chance of taking over the tote and converting it to an exchange.
But such a move would have been far too enterprising for those sort of people and they sold it to a bookmaker instead. All profits could have then been retained within the industry. |
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We get more people at Taunton on a Wednesday (me included today) than most French tracks get for a Group 1 race. The Tierce might generate a lot of money but that is equivalent to our lottery, not the Tote. Selling the Tote to Betfred was not a sensible decision but the old Tote never did anything to attract serious punters to use it.
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If racing really wanted to flourish the powers that be should copy Hong Kong where even a class5 race has prize money of £66000 at current exchange rates.
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Very well said Posy.
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It is quite extraordinary how of all the major racing nations in the world - British racing remains the only jurisdiction has haughtily overlooks the reason the need to address this problem.
For all those feeling sad and morose at the prospect of Kempton's proposed closure why don't we ask ourselves a simple question - How come racing seems to be thriving in the Far East, Australia, USA, France.....etc but yet British racing is beste with stagnant and deplorable prizemoney and the imminent closure of long-standing racecourses. The idiocy doesn't stop at the laughable levels of prize money. The division of prize money beggars belief. As a random example, the division of prizemoney for Royal Ascot's St James's Palace Stakes is as follows: Winner - £226,840 2nd - £86,000 3rd - £43,040 4th - 21,440 5th - 10,760 It is quite extraordinary that a race like the St. James's Palace for instance (which I confess fares better than most other races) - which is meant to be one of the highlights of the flat season has this sort of prize level. The division of money is even more ridiculous, when you consider a head or a nose could easily seperate 1st & 2nd. The coup de grace however, if all of the above wasn't bad enough you subsequently have to pay VAT of 20% on all prize money. If you are fortunate enough to own a reasonable horse and someone comes along to buy it off you, you also have to pay VAT on any of the proceeds. All in all, it makes you wonder why anyone in their right mind would want to own and race horses in Britain if it weren't for the historical prestige. As Del Boy would say - only fools & 'orses! |
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the way this has been reported so far is that it is a done deal with a supportive council
it seems that this is the not the case at all, in fact a spokesman for the council has gone on record as being opposed to development on greenbelt land interesting |
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http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/incoming/kempton-park-redevelopment-spelthorne-borough-12433261
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so £33,333 per plot - [£100million divided by 3000 homes]
they seem cheap plots for a London build? |
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They refused development plans in 69 -
1969: David Robinson, businessman and leading racehorse owner, buys the racecourse for £765,000 after outbidding the civil engineering and building firm, Taylor Woodrow. However, his grandiose schemes for development, including a leisure centre, are not approved by the planning authorities. Just over a year later he sells on to the Levy Board. Control passes to its subsidiary United Racecourses, which is already administering Sandown and Epsom - from sportinglife Kempton article. |
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More fast and subsidised travel links to the north and regulation on future siting of businesses perhaps...
"The property price juggernaught has become an uncontrollable beast which is wreaking havoc on communities and families. You know you have a serious problem when an individual who earns a salary of say 125k per annum can't or is having to struggle to get on the property ladder, as is the case in London and there is jack sh1t that anybody can do about it" |
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Whistlejacket, racing is certainly not thriving in France. In my view there are a few important lessons we could learn from other countries.
1. More days consecutive racing at each track. I know that soft ground turf can be an issue on some courses but Deauville manage to race nearly every day in August, American tracks (admittedly on dirt) race for 4-6 weeks continuous etc. Do we really need as many tracks that only race for 20 days a year? The cost of moving the stalls, staff, security, big screens etc from course to course must make our racing much more expensive to stage. We have increased the average number of races per card but we are atill well below most other countries where 10 races per day are not uncommon., Again this reduces the admin. and background costs per race. So: 16 flat courses, 5 south, 6 midlands and 5 north, most with AW and grass should be sufficient. It will be harder to run more than 4 consecutive cards of jump racing although Irish courses often have 5 or 6. |
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I wouldn't say US racing is thriving either. Handle is plummeting, tracks are closing, media interest is waning, public perception is of a cruel sport addicted to the needle etc etc
In Europe, Italian racing might not exist in 20 years, German racing is having a wobble, Irish racing is largely dominated by one Flat trainer and one Jump trainer (Elliot aside). Outside the Far East it's difficult to pinpoint a thriving jurisdiction. |
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racing is doing fine over here it seems only people on this forum who think different.
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Could I temper your comment foxy with 'marketing of the product needs much improvement including a significant reduction in admission prices where appropriate' ?
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The taxpayer has more important considerations at the moment such as the NHS.
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