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Sorry for starting a seperate thread on this but I would like this one to focus on what exactly is going on at Hereford. There have been no end of contradictory statements from both parties and one or both of them are lying.
From the RP recently:
Hereford was leased from the local council and its owners argued the course was no longer viable given there was just 17 years left on the lease and the council had refused to extend it.
Herefordshire County Council claimed that the first they heard of the plan to close the course down was at noon on Friday – an hour after it had been announced – and that it wished to carry on talks.
Northern/Arena said in turn that the council had known for some time of their concerns.
In racing, Northern/Arena are castigated by most for this wretched decision apart from the supine rulers of the sport (‘Oh dear, what a shame’). In Hereford, blame is being clearly apportioned to the Council who are taking a fearful kicking on social media.
The last couple of days have seen silence from both parties. Does anyone here (especially someone local to the city) know what has really been going on? Did both sides talk? Are they talking? Is the lease un-negotiable?
Mike
I decided to buy a Annual Badge for Hereford as they are now reduced to just £30 which includes a shedful of reciprocals, well worth checking the website.
Personally i think the course will survive, it is in a good area and part of a good collection of courses with Ludlow,Chepstow and Bangor all forming part of a nice village of Jumps racing.
According to RP the council is looking at having the lease either taken over or negotiating a new one with the guy who ran the course before. Frankly, they should have said to Arena that if they didn’t want to continue running it then the lease was void and they were free to seek new people to run the course. Unfortunately, it looks as if the fixtures for next year may have already been taken off Hereford, which is also a disgrace given that BHA should have expected something like this to occur once the news was released. Did they really think council was just going to roll over and let Arena get away with it?
Chris Cook, today’s Guardian:
The closure of Hereford racecourse begins to seem like an inevitability when you learn that the average attendance this year has been less than 1,500. It was a clever move by the Northern and Arena group that owns it to let this be known because it will weaken resistance to their decision. How much fight can anyone muster to save a track where no one goes?
An alternative narrative was offered in Sunday’s Racing Post by John Jarvis, leader of Herefordshire council, "They’ve run down the quality of meetings, moved the bank holiday cards elsewhere," he said. "It’s partly through their own actions that the course has been deemed financially unviable. They just want shot of it."
The company’s own explanation, offered through its spokeswoman Kate Hills, is that, insofar as there has been any decline in the quality of Hereford’s programme, the cause has been a decline in payments from central levy funds. If, as currently expected, the raceday on 16 December proves to be Hereford’s last, Northern expects to be able to distribute its fixtures among the 15 more profitable racecourses it owns.
Happily, the British Horseracing Authority has suggested it may be inclined to resist such moves and here’s hoping that their mild expression of possible intent is actually code for: "There is no way we will allow this to happen." Nothing good will come to a sport that takes a laissez-faire approach to the question of who owns the venues and what they can do with them.
Unless Jarvis is entirely deluded, the BHA needs to be much more careful about allowing ownership groups to switch meetings from one course to another. Perhaps it should also insist that, when a track is closed, its fixtures revert to the ruling body. Unfortunately, a court case may be necessary before the BHA can adopt any such policy.
A spokesman told the Guardian: "We acknowledge that there is some uncertainty when it comes to the ownership of those fixtures which are classed as ‘racecourse fixtures’, especially in cases whereby the ownership of the racecourse in question involves a third party such as a county council. If the issue was contested, it may be required for a legal third party to make a judgment."
How depressing to think the sport may have to make another generous donation to the legal profession before being able to assert control over its own future. Of Britain’s 60 racecourses, how many would survive a few years of the kind of actions that Jarvis believes has occurred in this case? The majority would probably be vulnerable and, although there is no prospect of houses being built on Hereford racecourse, the same cannot be said of many others.
There was some suspicion about the motives of the Reuben brothers, known as property developers, when they bought Northern in 2007. "We will be good custodians of what we own," the brothers told the Post in May but those words may have lost capacity to soothe.
Peter Scudamore, a former champion jumps jockey with longstanding ties to the area, said this week that Hereford used to eke out a small profit in most years, albeit in more profitable times, under its previous ownership, which owned no other tracks. Now, a local coalition of the willing is apparently ready to try running the place if Northern does indeed walk away.
The council still hopes to keep the present owners involved and a meeting is scheduled for early September, when the options to be discussed include a 108-year extension to the present lease, which has 17 years left to run, as well as the possibility of a hotel on the site. The outcome is not just a local matter. One less racecourse means one less community with links to the sport.
Jumps trainers fear that the tracks which inherit Hereford’s fixtures will not be able to maintain the quality of their racing surfaces with so many extra horses hammering around them each year, perhaps leading to more injuries.
That will not be the only unintended consequence of letting racecourse groups have their own way with the fixture list. The BHA needs to make it clear who is in control before the next racecourse comes under pressure.
Let’s hope we soon find out whether or not this has been a cynical PR exercise, involving closure by press release, and a brazen attempt to blame others for what has actually been a calculated business decision with a hidden agenda of asset stripping and consolidation.
If it has been a non-negotiable, we-are-not-bluffing business decision, why not just say so? Why try to imply that the outcome could have been different if the council had not been so intransigent over the lease?
The council leader went on television last week to make it clear that there was no intention whatsoever of allowing the course to become the site of lucrative housing.
If the council had been trying to make things difficult for the racecourse owners because really it wanted racing to be stopped to make lots of money from having the course developed for housing, then that would have strengthened the argument put forward by the owners.
But, no, the council is adamant it wants racing to continue and has said it would be prepared to offer a 125-year lease, with the added bonus of allowing a hotel and conference centre that would have helped make the racing part of the operation much more viable.
If the course’s owners had, as I said on another thread, merely be trying to use the closure threat as a clever tactic to get the lease extended, this would have worked a treat. A well-placed leak in the press would have achieved just this result and seen the council backing down. Leaks to the press are an established way of influencing public opinion and councils into making concessions.
But, as Peter Scudamore said recently, the lease issue looks like a cynical "red herring" (in his words) to disguise the true motives. I believe he was a director of Hereford in the days of former clerk of the course and Mr Hereford, John Williams.
Even more cynical, as has been said today, appears to be the tactic of unilaterally announcing the closure so close to the point of no return in the fixture list discussions for next year so that, even if the lease were extended, there would be no fixtures for Hereford next year.
Again, if there had been a real will to save the course and it was just the lease that was the problem, a very short period of negotiation would have probably done the trick. By apparently deliberately torpedoing next year’s fixtures, it means the BHA can now be blamed too.
The owners will be able to say that, yes, we have got a possible extension of the all-important lease but, really, it’s no good because we can’t get any fixtures for next year so it’s hopeless for us.
Again, why not just be truthful and say that we are fed up with Hereford and, now that we will be able to redistribute all its fixtures and the group will be a lot better off, that’s what we wanted all along?
But to use the lease as an excuse (wrongly, it would seem from the council’s disbelief at what happened and apparent readiness to compromise and accommodate the company if it wanted) and now to have a ready-made further excuse that it would not be worth having an extended lease now because there will be no fixtures anyway just seems a little too convenient.
The owners have run the course down by removing its best and most profitable fixtures to other courses. Popular Saturdays, including on Grand National day, and Sundays and Bank Holidays have been transferred.
Even if we accept the view that the course should be free to close the course down without giving any reason whatsoever if it doesn’t want to, it appears to have been a shabby exercise, with a hidden but unacknowledged agenda.
Now it seems that even if the council offers an acceptable lease, it’s pointless because the fixtures have already been lost, therefore making the course even more unviable.
The owners will, by cynically playing the closure card at the 11th hour of the fixture process, have ensured that there will probably be no comeback from the dead because they will say they cannot afford to keep the course moribund for the "lost" year of no fixtures in the hope of getting them back the next year.Strikes me that it would be very easy (and cynical) of the owners to suggest that returning the turf to a fit state after a year of inactivity would incur another cost they’d simply not be prepared to foot. It would be a factually dubious assertion, though – what’s to say the surface wouldn’t benefit from a year of not being watered, manicured and then stomped all over?
In terms of alternative usage during any enforced absence from the fixture list whilst this whole affair is sorted out one way or the other, I wonder if the Arabian Racing Organisation might be tempted to move a few more fixtures there? There was an Arab meeting at the course during both June and July this year.
Hereford has also come to the rescue of the Pointing fraternity thrice in the past 30 years or so – in 1986, 1991 and 1994. The first of those was the North Herefordshire meeting temporarily transfered from Whitwick Manor, which was unraceable that year; whilst the other two fixtures were Piccadilly Club-branded events intended to raise funds for (if memory serves) some specific injury-stricken local riders.
The WBC (Welsh & Border Counties) Area is far from short of runners who could stand (appreciate, even) an extra opportunity to race locally; though in simply suggesting they could hold another additional fixture at Hereford sometime next winter I appreciate I’m making light of what would almost certainly be a hell of an undertaking.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
John Williams heading a consortium to take over the running of Hereford. Now it’s time for the council to say "sod off" to Northern/Arena, you don’t want to run it so we’re taking the lease back and giving it to someone who cares about racing. Never mind waiting for N/A to make up their minds about giving it back.
Ha, this certainly applies: N/A – not available or, more pertinent, Not Applicable.
http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/9862570.New_company_ready_to_take_over_Hereford_Racecourse/
Why have the BHA not pencilled in a full set of fixtures for Hereford in 2013, whatever the situation?
Why aren’t the BHA fighting tooth-and-nail to save this 240-year-old part of their heritage?
Why haven’t the BHA told NA in no uncertain terms that any Hereford fixtures will NOT be redistributed elsewhere in their group?
In fact, why has the governing body of Horse Racing been positively helpful – utterly complicit in fact – in the attempt to shut this course?
I hope the Williams plan is successful. I worry he may be fighting against a negligent bunch of suits who will not be happy until Hereford appears in Chris Pitt’s next book.
Mike
http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/9862570.New_company_ready_to_take_over_Hereford_Racecourse/
Not sure what racecourse that is in the accompanying picture, but as a left-hander it sure ain’t Hereford. Clumsy work there from the local paper, particularly in the circumstances.
That aside, very much share Mike’s hopes and fears where the Williams takeover bid is concerned. There’s a bit too much real and implied intransigence on the part of N/A here for comfort.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Why have the BHA not pencilled in a full set of fixtures for Hereford in 2013, whatever the situation?
Why aren’t the BHA fighting tooth-and-nail to save this 240-year-old part of their heritage?
Why haven’t the BHA told NA in no uncertain terms that any Hereford fixtures will NOT be redistributed elsewhere in their group?
In fact, why has the governing body of Horse Racing been positively helpful – utterly complicit in fact – in the attempt to shut this course?
I hope the Williams plan is successful. I worry he may be fighting against a negligent bunch of suits who will not be happy until Hereford appears in Chris Pitt’s next book.I couldn’t agree more with your views and sentiments, Mike. Good to see them being argued here.
I cannot for the life of me understand why the BHA is not, as you say, "fighting tooth-and-nail to save this 240-year-old part of their heritage".
The fact that so many racing people are prepared just to shrug their shoulders and say business is business, claiming that it does not matter if a racecourse closes, and seemingly without thinking it is even worth so much as lifting a finger, is absolutely amazing and thoroughly depressing.
The fact that racing’s so-called rulers accepted two racecourse closures, seemingly as just one of those things that happen, a bit like a long spell of bad weather, is unbelievable.
For the BHA just to facilitate the owners in their unsavoury plan by allowing fixtures to be transferred within the group is not only complicit, very accommodating and thoroughly disreputable but will positively encourage such centralising behaviour in the future.
"So what?" some will say. The criteria through which this cosy arrangement has been set up needs to be changed for the future, some would say, although no doubt for legal reasons, the horse has bolted this time round. An unsatisfactory precedent has been set for the next round of asset stripping.
No doubt the owners, with their eyes purely on financial gain and not the good of the local people who are rallying round to save the course, will cynically ensure that life is made as difficult for the would-be new owners over the lease until it is too late.
There’s no reason to believe they will use anything other than a scorched earth policy to ensure that the course stays closed.
It is reassuring to know that John Williams and his supporters will not be put off if they cannot race until 2014.
It seems amazing that there is not a contingency plan in the offing so that Hereford’s fixtures can be quickly reinstated in the event that the situation can be resolved. When you remember how long it took to agree the fixture list not too long ago, going right to the wire, surely some fluidity can be built in. But it seems there is very little good will about.
I wish this new group good luck. It would be nice to think the rescue bid will achieve a happy outcome but plenty of racing fans will still, it would seem, rather see the place close to prove a point that they are more "realistic", with not even a token effort to save it.
It’s certainly a sad indictment of the attitudes of the so-called realists.
In other sports, such as football and cricket, you don’t hear of supporters shrugging their shoulders callously when their clubs or grounds, often steeped in history and tradition but perhaps also struggling in a double-dip recession, are threatened by closure. They value their heritage and rally round even if it is unfashionable and unpopular to look beyond a balance sheet.I am with you on this one Crusty , if these 2 tracks just go quietly , then it makes life a whole lot easier to dump another 3 or 4 next year
strange happenings indeed , the Bha must be regretting on a daily basis handing over their fixture rights to the courses
As I understand it , the BHA are powerless to do anything to stop further closures and transfer of fixtures to another track /s within the same group
imo of course
Ricky
The other point that nobody has commented on is what about Northern’s obligations under the lease.
The Council appear to have handed over the fixtures but I am sure the tenant will have covenanted to pay the rent for the duration of the term. Are Northern going to pay rent for the next 17 years for a course they aren’t using?
In a traditional lease arrangement the lessee might try to dispose of the lease by way of assignment; clearly that’s a non-starter unless the fixtures go with it.
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