Owners put racecourse up for sale

The owners of Ayr Racecourse want someone to take it to the "next level"

Ayr Racecourse has been put up for sale along with a nearby hotel.

Owners Alan Macdonald and Richard Johnstone cited the poor state of the housing market and the planning system in Scotland for their decision.

The Ayrshire businessmen took control of the racecourse and Western House Hotel in 2003 in a deal worth £10m.

The asking price for the racecourse and hotel is not known, but it is likely to surpass the buying price plus £14m spent on improvements.

Mr Macdonald, who is also chairman of Ayr Racecourse, said that when he and Mr Johnston took over five years ago they wanted to "restore Ayr to its former glory".

'Public inquiry'

"Cross-funding to finance both that goal and to also bring all the facilities up to a high standard was to come from residential and commercial developments on surplus land held by the racecourse," he said.

"The planning process took five years, considerably longer than anticipated, and we had to go to public inquiry but finally in May this year the process was completed.

"We now have planning consents in place for these developments but the property market is such that it could be a few years before value can be realised from this."

Mr Macdonald said the time was now right to invite offers from people who could take the racecourse and hotel "to the next level".

He said that both continued to operate on "a profitable basis".

Ayr is Scotland's only grade one racecourse and celebrated its centenary in 2007.

It hosts year-round racing, with national hunt and flat meetings.

It is home to the Ayr Gold Cup Festival and the Scottish Grand National

Western House Hotel was built in 1920 within the grounds of the racecourse.