RUBY Walsh and A.P. McCoy have opposing views on plans revealed this week to sell Kempton Park for housing development. Jockey Club Racecourses, who own both tracks, announced on Tuesday that Kempton, home of the historic King George VI Chase, could be closed for housing redevelopment “from 2021 at the earliest”. Kempton is believed to be profitable but the Jockey Club, which owns 15 racecourses, has debts of £115 million.

The Jockey Club hopes to invest £500 million into the sport in a 10-year plan, with nearby Sandown receiving some significant upgrades as well as being the proposed new home for the King George and a clutch of other big Kempton races. A new all-weather track at Newmarket will take the bulk of Kempton’s flat fixtures.

However, McCoy has expressed his doubts about whether the Sandown surface can take any additional racing. He told The Times: “There will be a lot of people who will be disappointed. It is terrible we will be losing a Grade 1 jumps track and we can’t afford that.

“For Grade 1 horses, indeed any horses, I am not sure Sandown has enough ground to cope with the fixtures it already has. It is not wide enough. At this time of year trying to get good, safe ground is paramount. The more racing, the less unused ground you get.”

Ruby Walsh has many fond memories of Kempton, where he won five King Georges aboard Kauto Star, but he said of the proposed racecourse sale: “Looking at it in a cold, detached way, this move just makes sense.”

He told Racing UK: “I really don’t think shutting Kempton Park is necessarily bad for jumps racing, like a lot of people seem to be making out. If you do stand still in any walk of life then you risk being left behind and fading away but the Jockey Club are doing the opposite by looking to the future.

“We hear every day that prize-money is the biggest issue in racing; well they have pledged to invest around £250 million into prize-money, half of which is going into jumps racing. None of those jumps fixtures from Kempton Park will be lost as, apparently, they will be rehoused at different tracks all over the country.

“I would have a big problem if the Jockey Club were pocketing all this money from the housing development, but they’re not and we shouldn’t lose sight of that. To be honest it wasn’t the biggest surprise, Kempton gets a great crowd for Boxing Day, but that’s one day a year.”

John Ferguson and Jonjo O’Neill are other high-profile racing personalities backing the Jockey Club proposals, while among those fiercely opposed to the move are Nicky Henderson, Oliver Sherwood and Tom Scudamore.

NEWMARKET ALL WEATHER

The proposed new all-weather track at Newmarket, will become that town’s third racecourse, complementing the Rowley Mile and July turf courses. Pending permission from the local authorities, the floodlit track will be built at The Links.

Jockey Club senior steward Roger Weatherby said: “A new purpose-built all-weather course on The Links in Newmarket to replace that at Kempton Park would be ideal for the thousands of horses trained at the home of racing and beyond, as well as shortening the working day for racing’s people there.”

CHELMSFORD PLAN

Also this week Chelmsford City announced plans to build a turf track and a casino.

Located an hour’s drive from Newmarket, Chelmsford could be affected by the proposed new all-weather facility at racing’s headquarters.

However Chelmsford’s owners have secured permission to build a new grandstand (incorporating a casino), major new equine facilities and a new turf course on the inside of the existing all-weather surface.

Work on the grandstand and turf track is expected to start in 2017.

The turf track could be the first such floodlit facility in Europe.