MEDIA RELEASE

30 JULY 2015

ARENA RACING COMPANY INVESTS IN DRAINAGE WORK

AT UTTOXETER RACECOURSE
Following Uttoxeter Racecourses final Summer Meeting last Sunday Arena Racing
Company (ARC) has begun 70,000 worth of drainage improvement works at the Midlands
track.
As part of the work the two mile chute and five other areas of the chase and hurdle course
will receive drainage treatment in efforts by ARC and the Uttoxeter Racecourse Executive to
improve the consistency of the Going and minimise the risk of abandonment at times of high
rainfall.
Uttoxeter Racecourse Executive Director, David MacDonald, said: In my nine years at
Uttoxeter Racecourse we have invested over 300,000 in drainage works. Being a low lying
racecourse, located in the Dove Valley close to the River Dove and the Picknall Brook, we
can suffer more than others at times of high rainfall so an efficient drainage system is vital.
The works are being over seen by Clerk of the Course, Charlie Moore, who said: We are
fortunate in using our agronomist Mike Harbridge of Professional Sportsturf Design to design
the works, as well as Mallinsons of Ormskirk to do the work as they are familiar with the
track. We are pleased to be making these further improvements to the track and look
forward to resuming racing on 9 September.
Uttoxeter Racecourses next fixture takes place on Wednesday 9 September for the Betfred
Raceday. Tickets are available from just 10 and are available online at www.uttoxeterracecourse.co.uk or over the phone on 01889 562561.
ENDS

For further information please contact:

Hayley Locker
Marketing Manager
Uttoxeter Racecourse
Telephone: 01889 562561
Email: hlocker@uttoxeter-racecourse.co.uk
Website: www.uttoxeter-racecourse.co.uk.
Twitter: @UttoxeterRaces
Facebook: Uttoxeter Racecourse
Susannah Gill
Director of External Affairs
Arena Racing Company
Office: 020 7802 5120
Mobile: 07751 870 929
Email: sgill@arenaracingcompany.co.uk
Web: www.arenaracingcompany.co.uk

3rd Floor, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP

NOTES TO EDITORS:
About ARC:
Arena Racing Company (ARC) is the largest racecourse operator in the UK with its
racecourses hosting racing on over 300 days a year. ARC is made up of the following fifteen
racecourses: Bath, Brighton, Chepstow, Doncaster, Ffos Las, Fontwell Park, Great
Yarmouth, Lingfield Park, Newcastle, Royal Windsor, Sedgefield, Southwell, Uttoxeter,
Wolverhampton and Worcester.
ARC runs three of the five all-weather tracks in the UK offering three different types of
surface for horses to run on: Polytrack at Lingfield Park, fibresand at Southwell and the only
tapeta racing surface in Europe at Wolverhampton.
In 2014 ARC pioneered the first All-Weather Championships which see horses compete
throughout the winter for the chance of qualifying for Finals Day on Good Friday at Lingfield
Park with a prize fund of over 1 million.

ARC hosts racing at all levels of the sport from Class 7 through to Group 1s. Doncaster
racecourse is home to the worlds oldest classic, the St Leger, run each year in September
as part of the four-day St Leger Festival. Feature jumps races include the Grade 1 Fighting
Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle racecourse, the Welsh National at Chepstow racecourse and
Midlands National at Uttoxeter racecourse.
As well as racing, ARC also operates a hotel at Wolverhampton, a hotel, spa resort and golf
course at Lingfield Park and The Border Minstrel public house at Newcastle racecourse in
the grounds of Gosforth Park.
ARC is the majority shareholder in the horseracing TV channel At The Races which is
broadcast on the Sky platform to c.14 million homes, and a JV partner with Racing UK in
GBI Racing which sells UK and Irish Racing to betting shop operators around the world.
ARC plays a pivotal role in British Racing. It is a shareholder in British Champions Series
and Racecourse Data Company; a signatory to a British Horseracing Authoritys and
Horsemens Group Prize Money Agreement; and on the boards of the Racecourse
Association (RCA), Racing Enterprises Limited (REL) and Great British Racing (GBR).
ARC employs over 500 permanent staff and engages with 3,500 casual staff for racing and
events across its racecourses.
www.arenaracingcompany.co.uk.

Further information about ARC can be found at