Horseracing Pitchcare Classifieds
Folkestone forgotten...
development projects said: “The current proposals for Otterpool Park are unrelated to the closure of the racecourse, and unrelated to any discussion at that time regarding development of the site. The racecourse ceased operating in 2012, long before the current development plans.”
Before that happens the site will need to be tidied up. For the place where Quartz Du Montceau won currently looks more like wasteland than parkland.
The grass has not been cut for some time and all across the former racing surface are tall, ugly weeds that have grown even faster than the grass.
Some of the rails in the home straight have been kept, along with some tall tannoy structures, but there are otherwise few ways of deciphering this as a recently perished home to sport.
Folkestone's paddock, with its nearby water feature, was always one of the most attractive areas of the racecourse
Unkempt and unloved: The Racing Post’s Lee Mottershead revisited Folkestone Racecourse five years on from its closure
After the rails have been taken down and the grass no longer gets mowed, it’s remarkable how quickly a defunct racecourse takes on the appearance of nothing grander than a big field.
What used to be Folkestone racecourse now looks very much like such a field, in its case not simply big, but also unkempt and unloved.
They once raced horses here. Five and a half years on from the last of those races, you would hardly know they ever did. At least not on the part of the site where the racing actually took place.
Most of the buildings remain intact, albeit some look so old and tired you fear a strong sneeze could cause serious damage.
Nobody has removed the sign bearing the word ‘stewards’ from a door in the weighing room, where the red scales also remain. The paddock, once so pretty with its adjoining water feature, continues to be there behind the grandstands. Yet the saddest sight to be seen is in front of the grandstands.
From those grandstands around 2,500 people turned up for the farewell meeting, the card that provided the closing chapter in Folkestone’s 114‐ year racing history.
It was billed as an au revoir, as opposed to a goodbye, but few of the faithful who turned up on Tuesday, December 18, 2012, would have been confident of racehorses ever returning to Kent’s only track. They would have been right.
On that winter afternoon, they saw the Marc Goldstein‐ridden Quartz Du Montceau win the ‘Save the Last Race’ For Eastwell Manor Handicap Chase after he fought off Mr Valentino in a thrilling finish.
“That’s it from Folkestone ‐ bye‐bye,” were the parting words of the day’s rostered racecourse commentator Derek Thompson.
That was indeed it.
Just three days before Folkestone shut up shop, Hereford Racecourse also entered a period of what was billed as temporary closure. Hereford has come back; Folkestone will not.
The site will form part of a 12,000 properties development to be known as Otterpool Garden Town, a joint venture between Shepway District Council and Cozumel Estate.
Andy Jarrett, both spokesperson for Otterpool Park and the council’s head of strategic
And yet, five years after the plug was pulled on Folkestone racecourse, there are still signs directing drivers towards its entrance on many of the surrounding roads, including one on the approach to junction 11 of the M20.
Do not, however, be fooled into thinking this suggests there remains even a ray of hope for a racing return.
Folkestone now exists only in the past. The weeds have taken over. If they ever disappear, it will be for the sake of a new town, not a racecourse.
You can read Lee Mottershead’s full article at
www.racingpost.com
The history of Folkestone
The history of the Westenhanger estate dates back to 1035 when it was owned by King Canute. The 14th century Westenhanger Castle can still be seen next to the main grandstand.
The racecourse was established in 1898, and was a right‐handed undulating oval with a run in of 3f and a 7f straight chute. The centre of the course has a reservoir fed by a pumping station on the west side of the oval. The East Stour river runs along the western edge of the oval and under the straight.
Outdated facilities and the delay of a project to build houses on part of the site were given as the reasons for the closure. Folkestone held its last scheduled meeting on 18th December 2012.
The grass has grown, but not as quickly as the weeds 146 I PC JUNE/JULY 2018
The post in the ground by the old brick building indicates where races finished
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