Beloved racecourse closes to general public over safety fears with track left under 3ft of water and ‘major’ work needed
POPULAR racecourse Southwell is in a race against time to be ready for March – after devastating flooding left the track under 3ft of water.
The punter-friendly Flat and jumps venue will be closed to the public for at least another two months amid fears over its safety for large-scale crowds.
Incredible photos showed the Nottinghamshire course helpless against the deluge of rain brought about by October’s Storm Babet.
Racing has continued in that time but in a Covid-style behind-closed-doors manner, with only jockeys, trainers, owners, stable staff and its 320 annual members allowed in.
The paying public are looking at a March return date at the very earliest.
This means there will be no big crowds around for their big jumps meeting on New Year’s Day.
And the huge Winter Derby – which has been moved from Lingfield – scheduled for February 24 will also, as it stands, be closed to the paying public.
The meeting, which will be Southwell’s first ever Group race, is one of British racing’s new ‘premier’ fixtures and will be shown live on ITV.
Southwell’s staff are working tirelessly to get the venue back into a state ready for crowds.
But the devastating extent of the flooding, which saw nearby flood defences breached and areas of the track and car park completely submerged, have taken their toll.
And it will only open to punters again once construction and insurance safety protocols are met.
The track was originally closed for around three weeks in the aftermath of Storm Babet.
Southwell’s executive director Mark Clayton told the Racing Post: “It’s been a magnificent team effort from everyone to be able to turn things around in a short space of time so we could race again on November 24.
“We focused on what we needed to for the resumption of racing, which was the track, the stable yard and the weighing room, which is temporary, and since then we’ve raced a number of times.
“We’re back fighting only using the first floor facilities.
“We don’t have any facilities we can give the public and our focus is now getting them back as soon as possible.
“Everything takes time and we need to be sure it’s safe.
“We have a plan and we’ll have a staged process for the refurbishment and hopefully we’ll have crowds back as soon as possible, but we don’t feel that’ll happen before our first meeting in March.”
Southwell is particularly prone to flooding and shut for five months in 2007 and three months over the winter of 2012.
A number of fixtures over this winter period have been lost due to flooding.
Doncaster was totally submerged and Huntingdon was left underwater and forced to cancel its biggest race of the year – the Grade 2 Peterborough Chase – after a downpour.
The Cambridgeshire course was flooded when nearby Alconbury Brook burst its banks
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