Welcome to Great Leighs...
Great Leighs Racecourse - The future of racing
Great Leighs, currently under construction, is not just a racecourse. It is a destination, open 365 days a year, with fine-dining and other leisure facilities tempting visitors to arrive well before racing and stay late. The grandstand's purpose-built conferencing and exhibition space will create a hub for the social and business life of prosperous mid-Essex.
The 10,000 capacity grandstand is acclaimed by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment for setting new standards in contemporary rural design. The futuristic five-storey, 160m wide building is faced in steel and glass and will be an imposing sight in its landscaped parkland setting.
Great Leighs and architects HOK Sport-Venue-Event have designed the building to meet the commercial demands of the 21st century racing environment. Though primarily a spectator venue, at smaller race meetings all race-related activity can be contained in the front and sides of the building, allowing business and conferencing to use independent levels to the rear, accessed by the spectacular glass atrium.
Great Leighs was recognised as Britain's 60th track by the British Horseracing Board in June 2003. It is the first new-build racecourse to achieve planning permission since regulation was introduced by Act of Parliament in 1948. It is just 45 miles from Newmarket and, following the July, 2004 opening of the new A120 Stansted to Braintree by-pass, is less than an hour's drive by horsebox from racing's "HQ."
Great Leighs is poised to meet the sporting and commercial challenges facing horseracing. The location in a prosperous region should attract a new audience. Its own on-site training yard will give young trainers an important step up the ladder, and introduce others to the exhilaration of racehorse ownership.
