Semple sad to see track rejected

IAN Semple, one of Scotland's leading racehorse trainers, last night reacted with dismay to the news that Musselburgh's planned £11 million all-weather track has been rejected by the Scottish Executive.

Carluke-based Semple said the creation of an artificial course at the East Lothian venue would have been a "godsend" for Scottish owners and trainers, particularly during the winter months.

"I travel up and down the length of the country between at Southwell, Wolverhampton and Lingfield and to have an all-weather track on our doorstep would have been a godsend to people up here," said Semple.

Officials at Musselburgh broke the bad news yesterday afternoon that their ambitious plans had failed to win the approval of Scottish Ministers.

The proposed development, which included a floodlit all weather track, upgrading the existing turf track and other works, needed the approval of the Scottish government following a lengthy Public Inquiry in the town which ended in December.

Bill Farnsworth, general manager of Musselburgh Racecourse, said: "We learned today that our planning application to build an all weather track had not been successful.

"We are very disappointed as the proposals would not only have brought major benefits to Musselburgh but to the Scottish racing industry as a whole.

"A meeting of the board of directors of Musselburgh Racecourse Ltd is scheduled for Monday at which the directors will discuss the findings before deciding on the way forward for the race course. Until the directors have had the opportunity to do this it would be inappropriate to make any further comment."

The floodlit development, which would have impacted on the adjacent links golf course, has been vehemently opposed by a number of pressure groups within Musselburgh and East Lothian, and it was their objections which prompted the public inquiry, after the application was initially approved by the local council.

The former Labour group at the council had helped authorise a £9million loan to Musselburgh to finance the project, but the decision was frozen by SNP and Lib-Dem councillors when they seized power at the recent elections.

Musselburgh, which is recognised as one of the most improved small racecourses in Britain, must now return to the drawing board and concentrate on improving their existing facilities.

"I know there were a lot of objections to the plans, and this may not be entirely unexpected but they will still be very disappointed at Musselburgh," added Semple. "They have worked very hard at improving the course over the last decade or so and this would have been another big step."

Semple, likewise, can only wonder what might have been had an all-weather track opened north of the Border.

"It would have been great for us. We have got to run our horses somewhere between November and March. There is no use having them standing in their boxes as that is not going to pay the bills," he explained. "It's very costly to run them all winter though. To run them at one of the English tracks it costs about £700 to make the round trip.

"I think if we had an all-weather track at Musselburgh we would have been able to expand our string as there would have been more owners willing to run their horses here. It's a shame."

The Scottish Executive's decision to reject an artificial track at Musselburgh leaves British racing with four all-weather courses - Kempton, Lingfield, Southwell and Wolverhampton - with a fifth at Great Leighs, in Essex, finally due to open its doors in October.

Semple's disappointment was soothed a little at Hamilton Park last night, as he saddled The Salwick Flyer to a 6-1 success in the opening apprentice handicap, then landed a quick double an hour later when Primo Way (11-2) won the claimer.

In between these races, McCartney romped home a seven-length winner of the novice stakes, despite proving easy to back in the ring.

Mark Johnston's colt opened up odds-on, but was allowed to go off 6-4, as money came in for Semple's Doon Haymer, Howard Johnson's Nine Stories and Eoghan O'Neill's Shannersburg, who was bidding for his second success inside 24 hours having won at Nottingham the previous evening. McCartney was always travelling like the winner, however, and scored very comfortably in the hands of Greg Fairley.

NEWS, PAGE 18