The BHA has today confirmed that four Jumps fixtures due to be staged at Sedgefield in the coming months have been transferred to different courses.Racing will resume at Sedgefield on Tuesday 22 November, following the abandonment of the fixture scheduled for Thursday 3 November and the transferring of Thursday 10 November’s meeting to Newcastle.However, to assist with maintenance and to significantly increase the track’s recovery time between racedays, a number of Sedgefield’s fixtures have been relocated. Those are:
- Boxing Day, 26 December – to Newcastle
- 8 February – to Southwell (Southwell’s AW Flat fixture on 7 February moves to Wolverhampton)
- 30 March – to Newcastle
- 16 May – to Newcastle
As well as these moves, safety factors for all races at Sedgefield, beginning from next week’s meeting, will be reduced from 14 to 12, and 12 to 10 in Novice and Maiden races. Furthermore, all races will be run on remeasured radii and curvature lines.Managing Director of ARC’s Racing Division, Mark Spincer said: “We are grateful to BHA and our agronomy partners, PSD, for their swift work in undertaking this inspection of the racing surface at Sedgefield. Welfare of participants is of paramount importance, so we wanted to make sure that any adverse issues with the track were identified as quickly as possible.“Whilst nothing specific has been identified, and the BHA Course Inspectorate reported that they were happy with the condition of the racing surface, we consider it prudent to take a number of steps for the rest of the season, including the reduction of the safety factors, recalibration of the running lines around bends and the movement of some fixtures to alternative venues. “We will continue the planning for some major investment into the racing surface to take place over next summer which will specifically enhance areas, including the final bend, and the camber of the track.”Notes to editors:1. For further information please contact the BHA Racing Department on 0207 152 0050 or via [email protected].
