New Racing Meeting to go ahead on Good Friday from next year

There has always been one day of the year when jockey’s, bookmakers and horse race trainers could guarantee they will not have any race meetings to attend, and that has always been Good Friday, however all that is about to change for in the UK for the first time in memory a horse race meeting has been planned for 2014 on Good Friday!

It has obviously taken some arranging however thanks to long and protracted discussions between the British Horse Racing Authority and the owners of the Lingfield Park Race Course a brand new meeting has been put in place for Good Friday of next year.

It is not going to be just any old race meeting however for this brand new race meeting is going to have some very large prizes on offer in fact with over £1 million to be won on the many races that make up this meeting then it is going to be a serious affair.

It will of course take a meeting with prize money that large to make it worth the while of trainers and jockeys to give up their one day of the year when they have always been able to take a step back and relax and it is hope that amount of cash up for grabs will make their minds up for them and enable it to be a success.

Getting prize money allocated to any single race has always been a challenge with the number of sponsors now becoming fewer in number due to the current financial climate, and it is good to see an agreement has been made in regards to this brand new race meeting.

However what also is going to be required is for fans of horse racing to actually show an interest in racing on a Good Friday for they too have always had other things pencilled in for that day, however with it being a bank holiday in the UK then a lot of punters will be off work and if they can be bothered to make the trip to Lingfield then it will certainly be a roaring success.

There are also knock on effects for land based betting shops and bookmakers premises for this has always been a very quiet day for these venues, with no horse racing being offered on this day then they have had to beam in horse racing from overseas whilst at the same time just offering virtual racing as well as the fixed odds betting terminals.

People are often saying there is too much racing around and not enough prize money and let us hope this new Good Friday meeting does not end up diluting the current crop of races that are held throughout the year, but with racing turnover well down than on previous years any new ideas and race meetings can only be a good thing!

Whilst it is obviously way too early for us to bring you news of the number of races along with any potential runners and riders, when it gets nearer the time we will of course keep you fully updated with any news from this race course and bring you any developments! Let us hope it is a success as that can only be a good thing for horse racing in general!