Ex-racecourse tenant owes £22m, administrator says

The previous tenant of a racecourse - which lost its licence earlier this year - owes more than £22 million to nearly 180 creditors, according to administrators.

Chelmsford City Racecourse near Great Leighs, Essex, has not held any races since March, when Great Leighs Estates Limited (GLEL) went into administration.

Six races were moved to other tracks by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), which has rejected an application from GLEL's successor for a racing licence.

The racecourse has not responded to the BBC's request for comment, but said on its website that it was "working hard to resolve this situation as quickly as possible".

In its report, administrator BTG Begbies Traynor concluded that GLEL had no viable commercial future, owing £19m to E-Money Capital.

Amongst its other creditors are Live Nation, which has claimed nearly £670,000 in liabilities following a Justin Timberlake concert at the racecourse in July 2025.

The organisation of the concert was heavily criticised after significant traffic queues, with some of the 25,000 concert-goers abandoning their vehicles and walking along a dual carriageway after the event.

It led to Chelmsford City Council ruling that the racecourse could no longer hold music events for more than 10,000 people.

GLEL, which has launched a counter-claim against Live Nation, also owes £2.4 million to another company for new floodlights after being unable to keep up with repayments.

The administrator said it was not "reasonably practicable" for GLEL to continue "as a going concern", adding that it would seek the best result for creditors "by the disposal of the company's remaining assets, being the freehold land and racing fixtures, and lease of the racing fixtures in the interim period".

However, it added that it considered GLEL had "insufficient property" to be able to repay all of its creditors, and it proposed "to deliver a notice of moving from administration to dissolution" once its duties as administrators were complete.

There are currently 17 race fixtures advertised on Chelmsford City Racecourse's website, from 5 July to 17 December 2026, but none can take place without an operating licence.

The racecourse said it is appealing the BHA's decision not to grant a licence to Golden Mile Racing Limited (GMRL), which took over from GLEL.

"We are sorry for the disruption and uncertainty this situation has caused," the racecourse said on its website.

"Please know that we are doing everything in our power to resolve this and to get back to doing what we love, providing a great day out at the races."

Peter Scargill from the Racing Post, which first reported the findings, told the BBC that "without the racing, it doesn't really work long-term as a venue".

"It's a shame really because it was a course that was well patronised by trainers and owners and jockeys - people liked racing at Chelmsford," he said.

But Scargill criticised the restructuring of the company in 2024, saying it was "perhaps a case of shooting a bit too high or being a bit too bold with some of their approaches".

"I think there'll be lots of efforts made to get racing back there, but it's a case of making sure that whatever is agreed is on a sound financial footing," he added.

The BHA declined to comment further on the matter, having previously said it was "regrettable" that fixtures at Chelmsford City Racecourse in April had been cancelled at short notice.

"We recognise this will impact owners, participants – especially trainers, staff and jockeys – as well as racegoers," it said at the time.

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