Kempton's all-weather plan

Kempton today confirmed that feasibility studies into building an international standard all-weather track on its current racecourse site are well advanced and could be made public as early as spring next year.

But officials at the London racetrack denied rumours that an announcement - which some say could signal the end of both Flat and National Hunt turf racing at Kempton and see the King George VI Chase transferred to Sandown - would be made before the New Year.

"We are one of many racecourses looking at dirt racing as an option for the future," said Julian Thick, Kempton's executive director.

"A lot of racecourse executives across the country are examining the issue in the face of opportunities afforded by the new technological and betting climate."

Thick stressed that the in-house team from Kempton's owners, United Racecourses (UR), and its parent group, Racecourse Holdings Trust, were still examining the proposal and that a report is not expected before late spring or early summer of 2002.

Kempton is not one of six new racetrack proposals currently under consideration by the British Horseracing Board. Thick was keen to emphasise that his team's plans were not far enough advanced for comment and refused to be drawn on the implications for Kempton's current programme.

UR managing director, Sue Ellen, has previously pledged to maintain National Hunt racing at Kempton.

In 1989, Kempton was one of the favoured venues when allweather racing was set to be introduced to Britain, but its officials backed out when it emerged that part of the Flat track would be lost.

Thick added: "It's very early days in this study but we are always looking at ways to improve our business. Kempton has looked at the idea of building an all-weather track several times in the past. It's something that has always been on the agenda and now is the right time to be considering it again.

"We have to be placed to react when our commercial environment changes. Other racecourses have reached a more advanced stage with projects such as this and have actually submitted them to the BHB - Newbury and Newcastle, for example. Our investigations are comparatively young."

Meanwhile, the Jockey Club today insisted the use of the performance-enhancing drug EPO ( Erythropoietin) is " not widespread" in British racing, despite claims by trainer Charlie Mann that horses run on it "every day".

Spokesman John Maxse stressed that, although the Jockey Club take Mann's concerns "very seriously", there was no veterinary evidence to suggest EPO is widely used.

"It would be wrong to exaggerate this problem," he said. "EPO has very negative side effects in horses. We are simply not seeing cases of anaemia and heart attack in the numbers that would suggest this drug is being widely used." Maxse added that the Jockey Club had "no immediate plans" to introduce routine blood tests alongside its urine sampling in an effort to detect EPO use. But the Club is benefitting from research into the drug that Maxse described as "equal to and perhaps even more advanced" than recent breakthrough analysis on EPO in Australia.

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