Archive - Thursday, 15 February 2001


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Malton Stables Open Day gets a new date

THE Malton Racing Association Open Day - one of the biggest events in Ryedale's calendar - is to have a new date and a new format this year.

The hugely-popular showpiece will take place on Sunday August 26, a fortnight earlier than originally planned, and will be staged, for the first time in its seven-year history, in tandem with a racemeeting at Beverley on the same day.

Organizers had previously tried to avoid staging the Open Day when there was Sunday racing, but that had meant pushing the date further and further into September.

At a recent Trainers' Association meeting, members agreed to a wholesale change, with the new date specifically linked to Beverley, which will provide visitors with afternoon racing entertainment in place of the traditional programme of events on the Langton Wold gallops.

Rosemary Carter, secretary of the MRA, said: "The trainers voted unanimously for the changes and felt confident that they could cope with the Open Day on a Sunday when there is racing taking place. There is no reason why it shouldn't work very well, especially with the added attraction for visitors of a day at the races."

As an extra incentive, Open Day visitors will receive an entry-fee concession into Beverley's Tattersalls enclosure. There will also be an extra bar for their use during a programme which will carry on the theme of the day by including a race named after the Malton Racing Association.

Desert Orchid, now very much part of the fixtures and fittings of the Open Day, will again be playing a starring role.

Rosemary Carter, who has been liasing closely with Sally Iggulden, Beverley's course manager, said: "Not only has Richard Burridge agreed to let 'Dessie' come to Malton during the morning, when he will be at Jimmy FitzGerald's yard, but he has also generously given permission for him to travel on to Beverley to make an appearance on the course during the afternoon. Given his dynamic popularity, his presence will give the whole day a huge boost as it always does."

Well aware that not everyone who visits the stables during the morning will wish to journey to Beverley, Carter has contacted some of the major local attractions and has been informed by Flamingo Land that they will grant people attending the Open Day two-for-one admission in the afternoon.

"We are very grateful to Flamingo Land for providing our visitors with such an attractive afternoon alternative," said Carter.

Preparations for the now-annual Malton Racing Association Grand National Dinner Dance on April 7 continue apace. This year's event, again to be held at York's Gimcrack Suite, will have three beneficiaries, the Injured Jockeys' Fund, Racing Welfare, and Norton jockey Lindsay Charnock, who was forced to retire from the saddle last year.

Tom O'Ryan is a staff writer for the Racing Post.

Updated: 15:29 Thursday, February 15, 2001