Kempton saved after Jockey Club scales down housing plans for racecourse site Kempton Park: home of the King George on Boxing Day Kempton Park: home of the King George on Boxing Day Edward Whitaker / racingpost.com/photos 1 of 1 By James Stevens UPDATED 12:24PM, FEB 5 2020
Racing at Kempton will continue for the foreseeable future after the Jockey Club announced on Wednesday its housing development programme in the Sunbury area is to be scaled down.
In January 2017 the Jockey Club announced plans to demolish the racecourse and build 3,000 homes but after meeting resistance from the racing and local communities, as well as from the local council it has tabled a new proposal which would see both the jumps and all-weather tracks retained at the Sunbury-on-Thames venue.
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Obviously the revised Housing Plan will be to only build houses on the old (now disused) Jubilee Course spur - that joined the main course st the end of the home bend.
That Jubilee Course made a three section practically straight 1m 2f alternative course to the regular Round Course - so there is a lot of acreage STILL left on which to build houses.
Kempton made a complete ****-up of installing an All-Weather Track - Resulting in having have an additional INNER Bend - meaning a much tighter track in order to accommodate (now ridiculously tight) 5 Furlong races, along with 1m 2f races, which would otherwise have had to start too near the the Main Outer track bend.
Instead of the tortuous INNER Bend Track - Kempton could have simply run a similar spur of tghe beginning of the Home Bend - alongside the inside of the Jumps course, and Service/Safety vehicles road - which would have given them a far fairer 5 Furlong course, along with a 1m 2f start.
But No ... It had to be 'All American' style instead - Rather than retain some similar character of the old Jubilee Course - albeit of a different part of the bend.
One dimensional, modernistic, thinking by Kempton, rather than retentive appreciation of the Course's long history
The Jubilee course ran off to the right of the current Layout - from the Home bend - and mostly alongside the A 308 - right up to St Marys Hampton Primary School
If you Zoom up and enlarge that overview - then you can still make out the outline of the Jubilee Course
Obviously the revised Housing Plan will be to only build houses on the old (now disused) Jubilee Course spur - that joined the main course st the end of the home bend. That Jubilee Course made a three section practically straight 1m 2f alternative co
"It was never going to happen once Heathrow got the go ahead for a new runway good news " What is the connection between the runway and the track. I'm glad it has been saved and there and Sandown were my local tracks when I lived in New Malden. How did the Jockey Club manage to accumulate over a £100 Million of debt ?
"It was never going to happen once Heathrow got the go ahead for a new runway good news "What is the connection between the runway and the track. I'm glad it has been saved and there and Sandown were my local tracks when I lived in New Malden.How did
such a shame I hate the AW track its got some f uckin voodoo curse on it I could never win at the place so stopped years ago Could have benefited from all that AW going somewhere else
such a shameI hate the AW track its got some f uckin voodoo curse on it I could never win at the place so stopped years agoCould have benefited from all that AW going somewhere else
I dont watch it for entertainment, I want to bet on it IR Cant bet IR on american
They could close kempton and shifty over to chelmsford where my record is impeccable-ta
I dont watch it for entertainment, I want to bet on it IRCant bet IR on americanThey could close kempton and shifty over to chelmsford where my record is impeccable-ta
valid points on the track ,but as they run the puerile all weather on the flat track ,what does it matter?
Midweek evening rubbish ,racing's version of lottery tickets.
valid points on the track ,but as they run the puerile all weather on the flat track ,what does it matter?Midweek evening rubbish ,racing's version of lottery tickets.
Why is all weather racing puerile? There is hardly a country in the world that doesn't stage racing on an all-weather surface so are they all wrong? It also gives some the smaller flat yards to earn some money over the winter period - is this so bad? Puerile means immature - is that a fair or factually correct description of racing on an all-weather surface?
Why is all weather racing puerile? There is hardly a country in the world that doesn't stage racing on an all-weather surface so are they all wrong? It also gives some the smaller flat yards to earn some money over the winter period - is this so bad?
Dont understand all the animosity towards JC they have to think ahead, there is absolutely no chance we will be transporting horses 100's of miles to run in low grade races in 20/30 years time, only days anyone attends Kempton is at xmas, long term it will not survive, they would be fools not to take this into consideration
Dont understand all the animosity towards JC they have to think ahead, there is absolutely no chance we will be transporting horses 100's of miles to run in low grade races in 20/30 years time, only days anyone attends Kempton is at xmas, long term i