Racecourse Launch At Ex-Mine Site

A £20m project to build the first National Hunt Racecourse in the UK for 80 years has been officially launched in Carmarthenshire.

Construction of the racecourse on the site of a former open-cast mine at Trimsaran is already underway.

The first racing on the Ffos Las course will take place in 2009.

The project's second phase includes an equestrian centre which will be a training venue for competitors in the 2012 London Olympics.

The Ffos Las course will be the third in Wales, along with Chepstow and Bangor-on-Dee.

The course, with a grandstand for up to 1,000 spectators, is being built on the site of the 608-acre Ffos Las mine, which shut 10 years ago.