YOU may recall some consternation a few years ago when Jockey Club Racecourses (JCR) announced plans to sell off Kempton Park racecourse for property development, the idea being to raise funds for other racecourse development work.

The plans to raise at least £100 million via the sale seemed a paltry return for the loss of a metropolitan track, especially as the number of houses proposed to be built in the area was 3,000, leaving an estimate of the value of the land to the developers as high as £900 million.