It was impossible to feel anything remotely like a sense of doom
from the packed steps of the grandstands here at Folkstone on Sunday,
as the sun beamed on Family Day at Kent's only racecourse. The bars were
full, sundry ice cream vendors were rapidly turning cones into coins
and the appearance of Peppa Pig created much excitement.
But if nothing changes, Folkestone will open its gates for only seven more racedays. After 18 December it will be gone for good. The problem is that the place looks like this only twice a year. There were an estimated 6,000 in the stands and a similar crowd is expected on 2 September, another Sunday, but otherwise Folkestone is restricted to midweek meetings. Ten of its 24 fixtures this year are Tuesdays, when it is not at all unusual for the attendance to dip below 1,000. "If we could race here every other Sunday in the summer, you would get an amazing crowd," says Kate Hills, a spokeswoman for Northern and Arena, which owns the track.
As things are, the track "has failed to be financially viable for a number of years", according to a notice in the racecard. Now that planning permission for 800 homes on the site has been denied, Northern and Arena have had enough.
Hills remains hopeful that the planning inspector can be moved to change his position. In the meantime she reports: "We've moved the fixtures to courses within the group that offer better facilities, where we can offer more prize money and as locally as possible." In practice that means Lingfield (60 miles away), Brighton (75 miles) or Fontwell (100 miles).
No planning inspector wants to be told he must change his mind and say yes to 800 new houses or be responsible for the closure of a long-established sports ground. Nor does the British Horseracing Authority wish to hear that a racecourse faces the axe if he does not immediately hand it an extra half-dozen weekend fixtures.
But such is the case and, if no one is prepared to intervene, a business will close that ought to be perfectly viable and racing will lose its local connection with a large community not short of prosperous pockets.
The BHA would say that it is in no position to hand out new fixtures like so many sweets, especially at a time when there is so much pressure on the funds available for prize money. And after all, there is no racecourse in the country whose position would not be improved by a handful of extra Sunday dates. Northern and Arena owns many such fixtures and could make Folkestone viable just by moving some of them here.
But why would it do that when those same fixtures can generate a much better income elsewhere? Instead Folkestone will be allowed to die and its possessions shared out among the survivors.
It would be nice to think racing's bad news would end with the closure of this track and of Hereford but the portability of fixtures means that any course, if part of a large group, must work very hard to avoid being the least profitable in that group. So long as the present system persists, British racegoers must learn not to get sentimental about venues.
But if nothing changes, Folkestone will open its gates for only seven more racedays. After 18 December it will be gone for good. The problem is that the place looks like this only twice a year. There were an estimated 6,000 in the stands and a similar crowd is expected on 2 September, another Sunday, but otherwise Folkestone is restricted to midweek meetings. Ten of its 24 fixtures this year are Tuesdays, when it is not at all unusual for the attendance to dip below 1,000. "If we could race here every other Sunday in the summer, you would get an amazing crowd," says Kate Hills, a spokeswoman for Northern and Arena, which owns the track.
As things are, the track "has failed to be financially viable for a number of years", according to a notice in the racecard. Now that planning permission for 800 homes on the site has been denied, Northern and Arena have had enough.
Hills remains hopeful that the planning inspector can be moved to change his position. In the meantime she reports: "We've moved the fixtures to courses within the group that offer better facilities, where we can offer more prize money and as locally as possible." In practice that means Lingfield (60 miles away), Brighton (75 miles) or Fontwell (100 miles).
No planning inspector wants to be told he must change his mind and say yes to 800 new houses or be responsible for the closure of a long-established sports ground. Nor does the British Horseracing Authority wish to hear that a racecourse faces the axe if he does not immediately hand it an extra half-dozen weekend fixtures.
But such is the case and, if no one is prepared to intervene, a business will close that ought to be perfectly viable and racing will lose its local connection with a large community not short of prosperous pockets.
The BHA would say that it is in no position to hand out new fixtures like so many sweets, especially at a time when there is so much pressure on the funds available for prize money. And after all, there is no racecourse in the country whose position would not be improved by a handful of extra Sunday dates. Northern and Arena owns many such fixtures and could make Folkestone viable just by moving some of them here.
But why would it do that when those same fixtures can generate a much better income elsewhere? Instead Folkestone will be allowed to die and its possessions shared out among the survivors.
It would be nice to think racing's bad news would end with the closure of this track and of Hereford but the portability of fixtures means that any course, if part of a large group, must work very hard to avoid being the least profitable in that group. So long as the present system persists, British racegoers must learn not to get sentimental about venues.
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