Arena Racing Company can today confirm that Newark and Sherwood District Council last night approved the resurfacing of the all-weather flat track at Southwell Racecourse from fibresand to Tapeta.
As such, work will commence on the project immediately following the Advertiser Ladies Day fixture scheduled for Sunday 15 August, which will be run on the fibresand surface. Whilst National Hunt racing will not be able to take place alongside the initial stages of the work, it is anticipated that Southwell will be in a position to host jumps meetings from Thursday 28 October.
Subject to trials and inspection, it is anticipated that the first flat fixture run on the new Tapeta surface at Southwell will take place on Friday 26 November.
Managing Director of ARC’s Racing Division, Mark Spincer, said, “We are delighted to have received approval from Newark and Sherwood District Council to embark with the project at Southwell Racecourse.
“As we have stated previously, we have been hugely impressed with Tapeta since it’s installation at both Wolverhampton and Newcastle and I believe that this is a real step forward for racing at Southwell.
“Whilst we had hoped to get work underway over the summer, the covid pandemic has caused a number of delays in the procurement process of the new surface. We remain incredibly grateful to Joan Wakefield and Michael Dickinson and their team at Tapeta Footings along with XYZ Rail and Civils for working hard to be able to deliver the project within this revised timeframe.
“Equally, we are grateful to colleagues at Newark and Sherwood District Council, as well as Nottinghamshire County Council and the Environment Agency for their assistance in this process and we look forward to work getting underway in August.”
