Great Leighs racecourse goes into administration

Great Leighs, Britain’s newest racecourse, has gone into administration.

The Essex-based track had been operating under a temporary licence since 1 January, but the licence expired at midnight on Thursday (15 January).

Racing was suspended on Friday (16 January) after the British Horseracing Authority(BHA) refused to grant another temporary licence.

The refusal was motivated by concerns about Great Leighs ability to meet financial commitments. It is estimated that The Essex Showground Group, which owns the track, has debts of £25m.

Deloitte was appointed as the administrator for the Essex-based track on Saturday (17 January).

On 16 January founder and chairman John Holmes said Great Leighs was going to the BHA on Monday (19 January) and hoped to resume business from 29 January.

But on Monday the BHA confirmed to H&H that they were still awaiting a licence application from Deloitte.

A spokesman for Deloitte said: “We are currently in discussions with the BHA in respect of securing the course’s racing licence and ability to continue to trade as a going concern while we investigate the opportunity of a sale.”

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