Harness racing will return to Musselburgh Racecourse next year after a revised format was agreed between the British Harness Racing Club (BHRC), Musselburgh Racecourse Committee and East Lothian Council.
The one-day fixture on Saturday 14 June will feature the famous Musselburgh Pace – the most important race in the harness racing calendar – equivalent to the Epsom Derby in horseracing.
The BHRC is a member of the governing body of the International Trotting Association which
consists of all the key countries staging the sport and includes the likes of France, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where the sport enjoys the status of being a multi-million-dollar industry.
The Musselburgh fixture was the pinnacle of the harness racing calendar in the UK but it ended in 2022, partly because it clashed with Musselburgh’s sell-out Ladies Day meeting and it was also scheduled in middle of the track’s busy summer race season.
A reduction in the number of race meetings held at Musselburgh each year and moving Ladies Day to August has relieved pressure on the East Lothian facility, and a gap in the fixture list in June has provided an opportunity for a revival of the premier harness racing meeting.
BHRC director, Julie Park, said: “The British Harness Racing Club is pleased to see the return of harness racing to Musselburgh and would like to thank Musselburgh Racecourse, The Chester Race Company, Musselburgh Golf Club and the BHA for making this possible.
“The Musselburgh Meeting has a rich tradition and attracts the best pacers and trotters, with the Group 1 Famous Musselburgh Pace the flagship race. This has always been an integral part of the British harness racing year and traditionally the fixture attracts harness racing followers and competitors from all over the UK and Ireland.”
In the UK, there are approximately 500 licence holders involved in harness racing, with a great many depending on it for their livelihoods, and in addition there are many breeders and buyers investing in bloodstock
Previously, the event was mainly run by the racecourse management team but the new format will see the BHRC hire the racecourse and a special Committee set up by the BHRC will manage the event.
Musselburgh Racecourse general manager, Bill Farnsworth, said: “We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with the BHRC to welcome British harness racing’s most important event back to Musselburgh.
“With a less congested fixture list than in previous years, which reduces the pressures on our staff, the facilities and the track itself, the new one-day format is a solution which all parties will work towards making a success.”
