Racecourse given royal seal of approval
The Prince of Wales is to visit Britain’s newest racecourse – Ffos Las in Carmarthenshire – for an afternoon of jump racing on Thursday 23 June.
The race meeting is ‘The Prince’s Charities in Wales Raceday’. It will benefit The Prince’s Charities through fund raising and sponsorship. The meeting will also celebrate the success of Ffos Las Racecourse and the contribution that the sport of horse racing makes to the Welsh rural economy.
The racecourse, which opened two years ago this month, was developed by the Walters Group at a cost of more than £20 million on the former site of an open cast coal mine, and has been nationally commended for its sustainable regeneration.
Highlights of The Prince of Wales’s visit will be:
A tour of the facilities at Ffos Las;
Meeting Welsh racehorse trainers – including Peter Bowen, Rebecca Curtis, Tim Vaughan and Evan Williams - who have helped The Principality become one of the foremost jump racing training centres in Britain;
An exhibition in a marquee of the work of all The Prince’s Charities (www.princescharities.org.uk), with His Royal Highness meeting staff and volunteers;
The Prince will plant a commemorative tree, grown on the Duchy of Cornwall estate, as part of the Woodland Trust’s Jubilee Woods project.
After the races get under way at 2.35pm, The Prince will be making several trophy presentations to winning racehorse owners.
The feature race of the afternoon – the £12,000 Lloyds TSB Commercial “Best For Business” Handicap Hurdle – marks ten years of PRIME Cymru, one of The Prince’s charities and the only specialist organisation in Wales that helps older people become and remain economically active.
As part of the flagship Cambrian Mountains Initiative (www.cambrianmountains.co.uk), the launch of new season Cambrian Mountain lamb will be served in the racecourse’s restaurant.
Tim Long, General Manager and Clerk of the Course, said: “We have had many highlights at Ffos Las since the racecourse opened almost exactly two years ago, and the visit by The Prince of Wales is another great day of celebration for us. We are absolutely thrilled that The Prince will be here for ‘The Prince’s Charities in Wales Raceday’ on 23 June.”
Jerry Langford, Wales Director of the Woodland Trust, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Ffos Las Racecourse has chosen to create a prestigious Diamond Wood. We are so excited about giving millions of people especially children the chance to plant trees and engage with nature. We very much hope that this inspires other landowners and communities to join us in paying a very special tribute to the Queen, while at the same time creating something living and lasting to hand on to future generations.”
Woodland Trust (Coed Cadw) – Jubilee Woods project
The Woodland Trust is looking to landowners, communities, schools, businesses and individuals to create 60 new Diamond Woods - each of 60 acres – and hundreds of smaller Jubilee Woods across the UK as part of the Trust's project that aims to plant six million trees and involve millions of people in celebrating The Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
The Trust is also providing thousands of free Jubilee Tree packs to communities and schools across the United Kingdom.
The Woodland Trust, with 300,000 members and supporters, is the leading charity championing native woods and trees. The Trust has three key aims: to enable the creation of more native woods and places rich in trees; to protect native woods, trees and their wildlife for the future; and to inspire everyone to enjoy and value woods and trees. Established in 1972, the Trust has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 50,000 acres. Access to its sites is free.
www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/jubileewoods
www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/wales