Catterick in line to bed the first all-weather, floodlit horse racing track to be created in the North

Plans have been approved to create the North's first floodlit, all-weather horse racing track. The new £11m facility at Catterick Racecourse will provide an enormous boost for trainers, jockeys and owners across the region who must currently transport their horses to the Midlands or the south in search of an all-weather track during winter. It will also be the only floodlit racetrack north of Wolverhampton.

As well as being good news for the many stables in Middleham and Malton in North Yorkshire, it should also benefit the local economy, allowing the racecourse to more than triple the number of flat races it stages every year.

The plans, submitted by Catterick Racecourse Company, were approved by Richmondshire District Council’s planning committee to create the track on an existing turf flat track. Catterick's managing director John Sanderson, said the next step is to negotiate with the British Horseracing Authority over securing the necessary additional fixtures to justify the investment.

The course currently stages 27 fixtures a year; ten of which are jump races and the rest flat racing. The organisers hope to be able to increase the flat racing fixtures from 17 to about 50 by 2017.

“This now means there is a legitimate floodlit All Weather Track option for racing in the North, something we know that northern owners, trainers and jockeys really need. The feasibility of the project remains contingent on Catterick securing the necessary additional fixtures to justify the circa £11 million investment required to bring the proposal to fruition. We remain in dialogue with the British Horseracing Authority regarding this crucial issue.”

Trainer Alan Swinbank, based in nearby Richmond, welcomed the proposed venture."I think it would be marvellous, The North has been crying out for something like this as places like Lingfield and Wolverhampton are a marathon to get to. It would be a really great starting point for lots of our horses, especially during the winter."

The National Trainers Federation (Northern Region) wrote in support of the plans to the council. In a statement the chair said trainers in the North have been “disadvantaged for years” from the absence of a synthetic surface racecourse, which makes training and competing throughout winter in the north possible. Racing at the new evening or “twilight” meetings would be held under the new floodlighting, starting early evening and finishing about 9.30pm.