OpinionScott Burton
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Ascot sets the standard in racecourse redevelopment - but time won't wait indefinitely for other tracks to follow suit

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France correspondent
Ascot:
Ascot's new grandstand and paddock complex was opened in 2006Credit: Edward Whitaker

How will our major racecourses look in 25 years' time? Not the tracks themselves, with the familiar fabric of Cleeve Hill, Tattenham Corner and Swinley Bottom; but the sporting cathedrals which adjoin those fields of play. 

Thoughts of bold new developments on British racecourses have been rekindled with the return of jump racing to Windsor, 20 years on from its previous spell as a substitute venue during Ascot's complete rebuild. 

Ascot's ‘new’ grandstand and paddock remain the most ambitious constructions on a British racecourse from the first quarter of the new century, although they are far from the only evidence of renewal. 

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Published on inScott Burton

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