THOSE trying to save the next fixture at Musselburgh racecourse could be forgiven for not looking too far ahead.
The Musselburgh Joint Racing Committee (MJRC) is due to meet on Tuesday to discuss the current crisis but might also wish to consider another factor which could yet spell more trouble for the beleaguered track.
The 2018 fixture list is due to be published by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) by August and there is now the delicate issue of whether Musselburgh can retain the 27 fixtures it was originally scheduled to stage this year.
Technically Musselburgh is no longer a licenced racecourse and that could pose the question of whether it can be considered for fixtures next year.
Robin Mounsey, the BHA’s head of media, said: “It is possible for racecourses to be part of the fixture list process without a licence in certain situations, which we would assess on a case-by-case basis based on the specific circumstances. However, we would not comment on individual cases while the development of the fixture list is ongoing.”
If Councillor Willie Innes was hoping his declaration regarding the MJRC meeting would sway the BHA he may be forced to conclude that its timing and currency were not enough. He seems to be at least a day late and a dollar short.
Innes had said the MJRC would discuss the BHA’s six-month extension of Musselburgh’s racing licence. That came on condition of the MJRC agreeing to an independent review of Musselburgh’s governance, something that has long been a bone of contention within the MJRC.
The BHA had already placed a deadline of “close of business” today for an acceptance of those terms in order to restore the track’s licence ahead of the next scheduled fixture on July 14.
Given the stance already taken, its response to the comments of Innes was not surprising.
“The matter is entirely in the hands of the MJRC and we look forward to receiving such an undertaking from the MJRC by the end of Thursday, July 6, so that the planned fixture on July 14 can continue,” Mounsey said.
One trainer who will be hoping the fixture goes ahead is Keith Watson, whose stable is based at Killylea, Co Armagh, and has to enter his horses 48 hours earlier than trainers in Britain.
Watson had planned to bring three runners to the meeting but his son and assistant trainer, Marshall, said that only Manomine will now be entered as the owners of the other horses have been put off by the uncertainty over Musselburgh’s future.
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