Farewell to Kempton Park racecourse?

Should the proposal go ahead, the King George VI would move to Sandown Racecourse, located six miles away, and an all-weather track would be built in Newmarket. A somewhat startlingly decision, given that Kempton is less than an hour train ride away from London Waterloo.

Senior Steward of the Jockey Club, Roger Weatherby, has continued to defend the sale of the track as a positive for the future of racing.

“We must show leadership with the assets we have and, where merited, take tough decisions to help our sport to keep moving forward,” Weatherby said.

“The decision to submit our estate at Kempton Park for consideration in the Local Plan is unique and has not been taken lightly.”

“I’m afraid when it comes down to it, Kempton is a track National Hunt racing cannot afford to lose,” he told Press Association Sport.

“We fought this battle once before and we won. They were talking about having the all-weather track and then flat racing on the turf and doing away with the National Hunt.

“It will be a very sad day if we lose it and I fear it will be a nail in the National Hunt coffin.”

Henderson, who has saddled 58 winners at Kempton in the last five years, also revealed concerns about the moving of the King George to Sandown, stating that the racecourse would not have the ground to cope with additional meetings.

“I had two or three horses that are due to run at Kempton this weekend that couldn’t have run at Sandown last weekend, purely because of the ground.

“If you have a good-ground horse you go to Kempton, if you have a horse that wants softer ground and a stiff track you go to Sandown.”

“Sandown can’t take that amount of racing. They [the Jockey Club] will tell you it can, but it can’t, we all know that.”

Sandown, which holds both jump and flat race meets such as the Tingle Creek and Coral-Eclipse meetings, will receive significant investment to its facilities alongside additional races to its programme.

Three of Kempton’s best:

Desert Orchid (King George VI winner 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990):

Affectionately known as “Dessie” by his many fans, the hugely popular grey, trained by David Elsworth, was the first horse to win three King George’s in a row. His white statue stands by the parade ring of the course he seemed to relish and he is now part of racing folklore.

Kauto Star (King George VI winner 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011)

The Paul Nicholls-trained superstar truly made racing history when adding a fifth King George win to his previous four titles, beating Desert Orchid’s record in the process. His 2009 win at Kempton was proclaimed by many to be one of the best performances since the mighty Arkle and his name is now carried by the Feltham Novices’ Chase.

Arkle (King George VI winner 1965)

Known simply as “Himself”, the greatest steeplechaser of them all added a King George win to his breath-taking CV in 1965. His final race came at Kempton a year later when he finished a gallant second and was found to have fractured a pedal bone during the race.