- Rebecca Davies appointed Regional Executive Director of Hereford and Worcester Racecourses
- Russell Bowes and Michael Thomas appointed General Managers of Lingfield Park and Worcester Racecourses
Arena Racing Company (“ARC”) are delighted to announce the appointment of Amy Smith as Executive Director of Lingfield Park Resort. Formerly Director of Sales and Marketing at Lingfield Park, Amy Smith will take on the role of Executive Director, with overall responsibility for the racecourse business as well as the Marriott Hotel, golf course and spa.
With significant experience across the sport and leisure industries, including spells at both Sandown Park and Plumpton Racecourses, Russell Bowes has been appointed as General Manager at Lingfield Park to support Amy Smith and the team across all areas of the business.
Rebecca Davies has been promoted to Regional Executive Director overseeing the running of both Hereford and Worcester Racecourses, following the retirement of Jenny Cheshire after 19 years. After a year as General Manager at Lingfield Park, Michael Thomas has been appointed as General Manager of Worcester Racecourse. The teams will undertake their new roles from 1 January 2020.
ARC Group Operations Director Mark Spincer commented, “We are very pleased to appoint Amy Smith as Executive Director at Lingfield Park. Amy has been in the business for over seven years and we look forward to her taking the helm with the support of a dedicated team and the additional experience that Russell brings from both racecourses and other sporting venues.”
“Michael Thomas has done a fantastic job in the last year as General Manager of Lingfield Park, and we are delighted that he will take up the new role at Worcester under the leadership of Rebecca Davies. Jenny Cheshire has been at the heart of Worcester for over nineteen years and everyone at ARC would like to wish her all the best in retirement.”
Lingfield Park Executive Director Amy Smith said, “I am very much looking forward to getting started as Executive Director at Lingfield Park. I am fully aware of the important roles that the racecourse and wider resort play in both the racing world and the local community, so we will look to build on what has been a successful year in 2019 into the wide variety of racedays and events that we have planned in 2020 and beyond.”
Ends
For more information, please contact
Sam Cone
PR & Communications Manager
Arena Racing Company
Office: 020 7802 5120
Mobile: 07920 404 296
Email: scone@arenaracingcompany.co.uk
Web: www.arenaracingcompany.co.uk
3rd Floor, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP
About ARC:
Arena Racing Company (“ARC”) is the largest racecourse operator in the UK. In 2019 ARC Group racecourses will host 570 fixtures with 1.2 million people attending racing at one of ARC’s racecourses each year.
ARC is made up of the following sixteen racecourses: Bath, Brighton, Chepstow, Doncaster, Ffos Las, Fontwell Park, Great Yarmouth, Hereford, Lingfield Park, Newcastle, Royal Windsor, Sedgefield, Southwell, Uttoxeter, Wolverhampton and Worcester.
ARC runs four of the six all-weather racecourses in the UK offering three different types of surface for horses to run on: Polytrack at Lingfield Park, fibresand at Southwell Racecourse and tapeta at Newcastle and Wolverhampton Racecourses – the only tapeta racing surfaces in Europe.
In 2013 ARC pioneered the All-Weather Championships which see horses compete throughout the winter for the chance of qualifying for a £1 million Finals Day on Good Friday at Lingfield Park. This initiative is helping raise the profile and prestige of all-weather racing in Great Britain.
ARC hosts racing at all levels of the sport from Class 7 through to Group 1s. Doncaster Racecourse is home to the world’s oldest Classic, the William Hill St Leger, run each year in September as part of the four-day William Hill St Leger Festival as well as the final Group 1 of the year in Britain, the Vertem Futurity Trophy. Feature jumps races include the Grade 1 Betfair Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle Racecourse, the Coral Welsh Grand National at Chepstow Racecourse and Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter Racecourse.
As well as racing, ARC also operates a hotel at Wolverhampton Racecourse, a hotel, spa resort and golf course at Lingfield Park and The Border Minstrel public house at Newcastle Racecourse in the grounds of Gosforth Park. The Hilton Garden Inn Doncaster Racecourse opened in September 2018.
ARC is a significant shareholder in the horseracing TV channel Sky Sports Racing which is broadcast on the Sky platform to c.14 million homes.
ARC plays a pivotal role in British Racing. It is a shareholder in British Champions Series and Racecourse Data Company; a signatory to a British Horseracing Authority’s and Horsemen’s Group Prize Money Agreement; and on the boards of the Racecourse Association (“RCA”), Great British Racing (“GBR”) and British Champion Series (“BCS”).
In 2015 ARC set up The Racing Partnership. This limited company represents the media rights of the 15 ARC owned-racecourses and the five independent racecourses Fakenham, Hexham, Newton Abbot, Plumpton and Ripon.
In addition to racecourses ARC owns Newcastle, Sunderland, Perry Barr and Belle Vue Greyhound Stadia and looks after the media interests of the Greyhound Media Group (“GMG”).
ARC employs 650 permanent staff and engages with 3,500 casual staff for racing and events across its racecourses. Further information about ARC can be found at www.arenaracingcompany.co.uk.
