'It's not something easy to replace - it's very frustrating' - fence at Musselburgh removed after being set on fire

A fence was set on fire at Musselburgh on Wednesday morning leaving racecourse general manager Bill Farnsworth full of praise for his team in dealing with the aftermath and getting racing on.

The fire service was called to put out the blaze in the early hours before groundstaff worked hard to remove the fence and clear the ground for the seven-race card.

The BHA stewards' report noted that "fence six was removed due to an act of vandalism". The racecourse has filed a report with the local police.

Farnsworth was left frustrated but was glad no-one was hurt in the incident. He said: "We had a steeplechase fence that was set on fire last night. We've followed it up with the police but it's bonfire time isn't it? So sadly there are children out there with matches and fireworks. Sadly I don't think we'll ever know who did it.

"The groundstaff have spent weeks building the fence and then it went up in flames this morning. They were faced with a burnt-out fence and burnt plastic and the fire brigade had been in and covered it in water.

"The morning of the first meeting of the jumps season is always very busy anyway because you're doing briefings with the groundstaff, doctors, vets and on top of that, they had to get the fence off the track, clear the ground, and by 9.30am you wouldn't have even known there was a fence there.

"The groundstaff did a brilliant job, so all credit to them. It's very frustrating, but the groundsteam just got on with the job. I take my hat off to them, they've been very good."

Musselburgh: staged a jumps meeting on WednesdayCredit: John Grossick Racing

Musselburgh is due to race again in three weeks' time, but Farnsworth is unsure whether a fresh fence will be ready in time for its meeting on November 30.

"It's not something that can easily be replaced, it takes a huge amount of work to repair," Farnsworth added. "It was a new fence, typically, and just cutting the birch is a huge task in itself. It's a big job and very expensive.

"It's too early to say when it will be replaced. We've got to go and cut the birch, order a new frame, get all of the wings and it depends on how quickly we can get all these things. There's certainly not a quick fix for it and I wouldn't be sure that we'd have it for the next meeting, but we'll get it done as quickly as we can."

Farnsworth said vandalism at racecourses occurs more often than perceived. He said: "It's not the first time it's happened and it won't be the last I expect. You'll find that vandalism is actually far more common than you might think because when people turn up, generally it's all been sorted.

"It's very frustrating for racecourses. It's just that racecourses don't want to shout about it because it only encourages people to do it. We just removed it and quietly got on with the job."

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