Southwell hope to light up the sky for night racing in 2019

As it staged a traditional Sunday afternoon 'family fun day' jumps meeting, Southwell revealed plans to enter the modern age by erecting floodlights.

The dual-purpose track aims to stage evening all-weather Flat meetings under lights, beginning in 2019, if the scheme gets the go-ahead from Newark and Sherwood District Council and fixtures are granted by the BHA.

It would become Britain's fifth floodlit track, joining Chelmsford, Kempton, Newcastle and Wolverhampton.

"It's an exciting time," said executive director Mark Clayton. "We have put the planning application in to erect floodlights on the racecourse.

Mark Clayton: excited by plans for racing under floodlights at SouthwellCredit: David Carr

"It's subject to the planning process and fixture allocation but our hope is that we could begin work on the project in 2018 and start racing under floodlights in 2019.

"The application went in around ten days ago and we hope to get a decision in the next couple of months."

Unlike Kempton and Wolverhampton, Southwell racecourse is out of town and in a generally non-residential area, so floodlight pylons would not appear likely to attract many objections from the locals.

"We have raised it discreetly with the local community and all the communications so far have been positive," Clayton said.

Racing has taken place on the current site at Southwell since 1897 but it was solely a jumps course until the all-weather Flat track was opened in 1989.

It has been forced to close for lengthy spells twice in recent years due to flooding, but that threat has receded thanks to significant remedial work.

Business as usual

Explaining the thinking behind the move to race under floodlights, Clayton said: "This came about once we had completed the flood alleviation scheme that guarantees the future of the racecourse; it protects the track and the buildings.

"The question was how do we develop the future of racing at Southwell? At its height we had 80 fixtures a year here but that is down to 54 this year and we want to build the number back up.

"We would be putting up 54 pylons and the building work would take 14 weeks, but we wouldn't have to close. We would continue racing."

Unlike Newcastle, the plan is to light the entire circuit of just over a mile and a quarter and the five-furlong chute.

But there is no intention to stage jump racing under floodlights at Southwell, which is part of the Arena Racing Company that also owns Newcastle and Wolverhampton.

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