Issue - meetings

This report informs the Conservators of dates for race meetings in 2023 and presents a request from Jockey Club Racecourses for consent for race meetings and extensions to the periods permitted for fencing, as required by the Epsom and Walton Downs Regulation Act 1984 and Epsom and Walton Downs Byelaws.

The Conservators received a report informing them of dates for race meetings in 2023 and presenting a request from Jockey Club Racecourses for consent for race meetings and extensions to the periods permitted for fencing, as required by the Epsom and Walton Downs Regulation Act 1984 and Epsom and Walton Downs Byelaws.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Nature of applications. Simon Durrant provided the Conservators with an overview of the applications, and the fencing extensions requested.

b)            Racecourse access for locally trained horses. In response to a question from a Member of the Conservators, Andrew Cooper informed the meeting that the Racecourse would consider whether it would be possible to open parts of the course to locally trained horses later in the year. This would be dependent upon a number of factors such as ground and weather conditions, and workload of staff.

Following consideration, the Conservators unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Note the dates of the 2023 racing season for Epsom Downs detailed in paragraph 2.1 of the report, and grant their consent to the following meetings in accordance with section 14 of the Epsom and Walton Downs Regulation Act 1984:

·               Wednesday 5 July (Evening)

·               Thursday 13 July (Evening)

·               Thursday 20 July (Evening)

·               Thursday 3 August (Evening)

·               Sunday 1 October

(2)      Note that Jockey Club Racecourses has applied to Surrey County Council for the temporary suspension of Footpath 50 as detailed in section 4 of the report.

(3)      Approve the application from Jockey Club Racecourses for consent under Byelaw 2 (i) (a) to extend the fencing period for the Upper Tattenham Enclosure and Lonsdale Enclosure for 4 days to cover the period 15 May - 18 May 2023.

(4)      Approve the application from Jockey Club Racecourses for consent under the Byelaw 2 (i) (a) to extend the fencing period for the Lonsdale Enclosure to enable fencing to remain in place between the dates of 14 – 20 June 2023.