ALL eyes are on Musselburgh tomorrow (Sat 11 Feb) as it takes centre stage as the only jumps fixture in the UK.
With Newbury announcing its meeting is abandoned, Channel 4 will televise four races at the John’s Smith’s Scottish Cheltenham Trials over the East Lothian course.
And as a boost to racing fans desperate for live National Hunt action, Musselburgh is putting up 1,000 free admission tickets for the £80,000 meeting which has attracted a hugely competitive field.
The free ticket promotion was announced on social media sites Twitter and Facebook and went live at noon.
Race goers can only secure the free tickets by visiting the racecourse website, www.musselburgh-racecourse.co.uk and following the normal booking procedure.
A minimum of 1,000 tickets are available up until midnight (Friday) and no telephone bookings will be accepted.
As a result of the live television coverage the running order has been changed and race times altered by five minutes.
Musselburgh Racecourse general manager, Bill Farnsworth, said: ”With UK race cards decimated due to the weather the spotlight falls on us as the only jumps meeting on Saturday and we have lined up an excellent card with increased prize money.
“It has been a rollercoaster week for racing fans with on/off meetings and to reward our loyal customers we are putting up a minimum of 1,000 free tickets on a first come basis.
“We hope it adds to what will be a great atmosphere with some of the leading trainers making the trip with a selection of their Cheltenham and Aintree prospects.
“The course is frost free, we’ve had some overnight rain and the forecast is +8 for Saturday so we are all set for an excellent days racing and we would encourage race goers to come along and enjoy the quality that is on show.”
The first race is at 1.30pm and the running order is:
01.30 THE JOHN SMITH’S NOVICES’ HURDLE RACE (CLASS 4)
02.05 THE JOHN SMITH’S SCOTTISH TRIUMPH HURDLE (A JUVENILE HURDLE RACE) (CLASS 3) C4
02.35 THE JOHN SMITH’S STAYERS’ HANDICAP HURDLE RACE (CLASS 3) C4
03.10 THE JOHN SMITH’S SCOTTISH CHAMPION STEEPLE CHASE (A HANDICAP) (CLASS 3) C4
03.45 THE JOHN SMITH’S SCOTTISH COUNTY HURDLE (A HANDICAP RACE) (CLASS 3) C4
04.20 THE JOHN SMITH’S FUTURE CHAMPIONS NOVICES’ STEEPLE CHASE(CLASS 3)
04.50 THE JOHN SMITH’S HANDICAP HURDLE RACE (CLASS 3)
ENDS
Note to editors:
Web: www.musselburgh-racecourse.co.uk
Musselburgh Racecourse’s Facebook page can be found at www.facebook.com/MusselburghRacecourse
Twitter: @musselburghrace
Issued on behalf of Musselburgh Racecourse by Sure Public Relations. For further information please contact Stephen Rafferty on +44 (0)7980 598764.
Stephen Rafferty
Sure Public Relations
Tel: 0044 (0)7980 598764
Web: www.surepr.co.uk
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Contact: Stephen Rafferty
Phone: +44(0)7980 598764
Email: moreinfo@surepr.co.uk
Website: http://www.musselburgh-racecourse.co.ik
