Musselburgh racecourse ‘confident’ they will be able to carry on racing at the track
There has been a long-running saga over the licence but officials are expecting the British Horseracing Authority to re-issue their licence after a positive meeting.
MUSSELBURGH racecourse are "confident" that the British Horseracing Authority will be able to re-issue a licence following a constructive meeting on Friday.
The current licence expired on Saturday and there have been several meetings between the East Lothian Council and Lothians Racing Syndicate, who currently run the course together, which had failed to reach a solution.
The BHA rejected the council's wish to begin running the course through a committee made up of four council members and two racing experts meaning currently the Edinburgh track is unable to stage racing unless a solution is found before its next meeting on May 3.
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Thankfully, there appears to have been a thawing in relations with chief executive Bill Farnsworth releasing the following statement:
"The meeting was constructive, and all parties are agreed on what needs to be achieved to move towards a long-term arrangement for the governance of the racecourse.
"We need to discuss more detail and to obtain legal advice, but we have established a positive direction of travel. East Lothian Council and the LRS are committed to working over the next three weeks to reach a position where a proposal will be put to the next full meeting of the Council on April 24.
"Based on the agreements reached, all parties are confident the BHA will then be in a position to award Musselburgh a licence on April 25 in advance of our next race meeting on May 3."