Training centre announces new charity date

The Middleham Open Day will be returning in 2017 after a year's hiatus and with a new date – Easter Monday.

The popular event, inaugurated in 1993, was previously staged on Good Friday but did not take place at all this year, with organisers fearing the early date for Easter would increase the chance of bad weather, and a possible switch to a Sunday in May received only a lukewarm response.

Good Friday was the favoured day due to the absence of racing, but with the BHA sanctioning fixtures from 2014, the open days at Middleham and Lambourn have been compromised, and those behind Middleham's day announced yesterday they had settled on Easter Monday next year, April 17.

Arc, who were behind the introduction of racing on Good Friday, are sponsoring the open day in Middleham, home to 15 training yards.

As the organisers, Racing Welfare will be the main beneficiary charity, with a proportion of the funds raised also going to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance charity.

Sarah Kilby, regional welfare manager for the north at Racing Welfare, said: "We're delighted to take over the running of the Middleham Stables Open Day for 2017 and hope its new date will be well supported. It's a great opportunity for trainers to showcase their yards in Middleham and a chance for visitors to see what goes on behind the scenes."

There are seven fixtures in Britain scheduled to take place on Easter Monday next year, including at Redcar and Market Rasen.