Action from Towcester

Towcester Racecourse aim to reopen in 2027 as Betway Towcester

Horse Racing
Thu July 09, 2026 · 10h ago

Towcester is expected to reopen its doors from autumn next year, having not staged a horseracing fixture since May 2018.

The racecourse was placed into administration in August 2018, with the track's closure confirmed the following October as the BHA stated it was "saddened" by the development, but an agreement has now been reached between the owners of the land, Orchestrate - the track's management company - and new strategic partner, bookmakers Betway.

The course will be known as Betway Towcester, the operator also set to become the track's exclusive betting provider.

Richard Thomas, the former Chief Executive of Chester Racecourse who is overseeing the project, told the Nick Luck Daily Podcast: "This is something that's been in the pipeline for quite a long while, Orchestrate took over Towcester Racecourse and the lease and sorted out and improved the greyhound racing side of the business, which is a great business and sustains the lease and why we're doing it.

"But obviously, sitting in front of us was the racecourse which wasn't being used and that was pretty sad. So we've been talking to plenty of people and Betway have been amazing in their vision and their drive to bring horseracing back.

"When we first talked about it we told them they were mad and it was impossible, and that it would take a huge effort to get there and they just kept saying 'let's do it, let's do it, how can we help you and how can we drive this forward?'.

"So here we are, we've announced a fantastic deal with Betway, who will be the naming partners of the racecourse, something that's not been done I don't think in British racing yet.

"We've got a huge amount to do and it's all systems go. Our aim is to get to horseracing in October next year (2027).

In terms of getting fixtures back to the venue, he added: "Fixtures is a very difficult one, normally when you bid for a new racecourse you'd be asking the BHA for full fixtures and we haven't done that as, while we are a new racecourse, we recognise that asking for eight new jump fixtures in this current climate would be silly.

"So we're talking to tracks that perhaps have the ability to move fixtures to us because it will save their ground and it'll make more sense to run them at a track where there will be fewer abandonments.

"I think Towcester's abandonment record was always second to none, they very rarely abandoned. It was always testing when it was wet but always raceable which is a great trait to have. I think it will help British racing and jump racing to have a course back that can deal with the worst conditions.

"We're looking at commercial deals with other racecourses and we've had great cooperation from the industry.

"The track is starting to improve hugely and we're getting it ready, as it were."

Racing first took place at Towcester in 1876, and almost 140 years later it was the venue for Sir Anthony McCoy's 4,000th winner - when Mountain Tunes was roared home in 2013.

Lewis Knowles, Betway's PR manager, said: "We've been in conversation with Orchestrate for a few months now. It's obviously been the intention of the team to bring horseracing back at some point. And we've been in conversation about how we can support on that venture.

"Earlier this year, we made a move back into racing by taking over sponsorship of the Craven meeting, we are official betting partners of the July Festival this week, and it just seemed like another step back into the sport for us and a fascinating one that's completely different to any other sponsorship or partnership we've been involved in before.

"It's a racecourse for people; it's so fondly remembered by racegoers, journalists, everybody. When you think about it, it was a relatively small racecourse and it really punched above its weight for iconic moments with AP McCoy's 4,000th winner. I seem to remember Peter Scudamore brought up his double century there many years ago, Ryan Moore rode his first winner there. There are so many iconic moments. It's just a racetrack that's very fondly remembered by people in the local area, but also racegoers everywhere. And it's an iconic place for a racecourse that was relatively small.

"The ambition is that how big can we make it? How successful can we make it? Can we make Towcester a real day out that people want to travel for and have a unique experience that's maybe not like any other race course in the country?"

In terms of the renaming of the venue, he added: "That has happened in other sports; I went to watch Surrey play cricket last night at the Kea Oval. Pretty much every other sport in this country is carrying the names of partners.

"We just think this is probably the first step for horseracing and something that will probably become quite common in the future.

"One thing we have is we have a lot of relationships with Premier League clubs, international sporting organizations, and we're going to lean on those partnerships. Can we bring in some expertise from those areas to help us shape our involvement in the racecourse? As I touched on, we want to make Toaster somewhere that racing fans and casual fans who maybe go racing once a year if they want to come and have a day out. So we're really going to lean on those partnerships and bring in that expertise.

"And we're hoping that's where we can play our part, just working with the Orchestrate team to make Towcester something really special."

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