David Griffin, the chairman of Taunton Racecourse, is hoping that cancelling meetings, because of hard ground, is going to be a thing of the past.

Now into his second year in post the chairman said: “We are working towards improving the watering facilities so that we won’t get these early season cancellations.

“We are making new bore holes so that we can fill the reservoirs, in the centre of the course, faster than we empty them.

“At the minute we have only got two bore holes and it takes three days for the reservoirs to fill up. What we are doing is having a hydrology report and sinking three or four more bore holes which means that we can fill it up in a day and then we can water more. Had we had it this year then we might have been able to race on October 26th.

Somerset County Gazette: David Griffin, ChairmanDavid Griffin, Chairman

“Over the summer we have done a lot of work improving the jockeys changing rooms and Taunton is one of the first courses in the country to bring our facilities up to date to meet all the new specifications laid down by the British Horseracing Authority.

“We are now looking at developing the facilities for owners and trainers to make sure that we can cater for the racing syndicates and that is our next project.

Our conference and hospitality business is in good shape and back to pre-covid levels. We are looking to improve the facilities, which includes being able to do a mix of on site and video conferences.

“All the staff at the course have been brilliant and they are all very loyal and long serving and committed employees all of which helps to create the great atmosphere there is at Taunton.”

Finally the chairman paid tribute to his predecessor Mike Foden.

“During the summer Mike Foden who was chairman at Taunton for 30 years sadly passed away. He was a great servant of the course and will be greatly missed by everyone.”

Taunton’s next meeting will be on Thursday November 10 when the first race is due off at 1.15pm