Secret Levy Board share means Kempton sale plan gets murkier
The numbers surrounding the Jockey Club's proposal to sell Kempton racecourse for redevelopment have always been confusing and the picture today becomes murkier as it emerges the Levy Board or its successor organisation will receive a substantial share of any sale proceeds.
Documents secured by the Racing Post show that when the Levy Board sold Kempton to the Jockey Club in 1994 a clause was placed in the agreement that would be triggered should the new owners attempt to sell the land for redevelopment.
Known in legal parlance as an anti-embarrassment clause, this required the Jockey Club to pay the old owner, which remained as freeholder, a portion of the profits from a sale taking place in the following eight years. The Levy Board's share was fixed at 50 per cent.
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