A FORMER journalist has spoken of his determination to ride out coronavirus and overcome planning hurdles to establish a new commercial horseracing stables.

Neville Ender, who was the first to commentate on live horseracing on the internet, said his family was seeking consent from Ryedale District Council to launch a commercial stables at the East Heslerton base which had produced numerous successes since they had moved there from Tim Fitzgerald’s yard in Norton.

Mr Ender said while the proposal had triggered concerns from some residents, he wanted to reassure people that the application, which includes building nine new stables, would lead to no change in the operations of the yard, but would enable the family to apply for a full training licence, expand the venture and take on staff.

He said another benefit of a commercial stables would be having both flat and jumps horses to increase the yard’s racing activity.

Mr Ender, who is hoping to attract racehorse owners to use the new yard where his daughter Sara is trainer, said: “There’s no racing at the moment, but we have to keep our name in the shop window.

“We don’t even have a timescale you can work back from. All the costs are still there – the horses still need to be fed.

“It’s even more frustrating because I have got the nicest crop of horses I have ever had, with ones such as Evicerating, a huge grey gelding, which could be the horse that puts us on the map.”