'It's well overdue' - end of an era as Southwell stages last Fibresand meeting

Lord Torranaga, Billy Garritty and Phil Kirby etched their names into the history books on Sunday as they combined to become the last winners on Fibresand in Britain before Southwell's switch to Tapeta.

In front of a packed crowd of 8,000 on ladies' day in Nottinghamshire, the six year-old bolted up in the 1m4f handicap finale to win by six lengths and make Southwell’s surface Kirby’s most successful track on the Flat with 22 winners.

After the history-making feat, Kirby said: "It’s quite a nice thing to happen. It wasn’t something we set our stall out to do, but when I realised it was the last race, I thought it would be very nice to win, so I’m pleased.

"He actually won on it [Fibresand] in France and I don’t really know why we haven’t been before. It’s a bit of a shame that it’s gone now, so we may have to take him over to France to have another go over there. It’s a brilliant crowd and a nice day for it, so it’s good for everybody."

Phil Kirby: 'It wasn’t something we set our stall out to do'Credit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Kirby added: "I believe Frankie rode the first winner here and Billy rode the last, so it’s good for Billy as well."

Watch Southwell's last race on Fibresand

George Boughey has also saddled more winners on the Fibresand surface than anywhere else since he took out a trainer’s licence in 2019. He made it 12 winners at the track in the 7f fillies' novice stakes.

After two-year-old Mystic Wells stayed on from last to first to get off the mark at the second attempt, the Newmarket trainer said: "She obviously liked the surface, which is obviously now irrelevant.

"Southwell has been very good to us. We’ve taken the right horses there and it’s my winning-most track, so obviously we’re sad to see it go, but it will increase the quality of racing. It certainly has its pros and its cons, but it’s probably the right thing to happen.”

Simon Davis, estates manager at Southwell, has worked at the track since its inception in 1989 but believes the time is right for the switch.

"I’ve been here more than 32 years altogether," he said. "These things come and go over the years; it’s the end of an era. It’s well overdue and all good things come to an end. Now we’ve got the floodlights situation sorted as well, it’s all looking positive."

There are now no Fibresand surfaces left in Britain and Ireland after the conclusion of Sunday’s meeting.

Southwell will join Newcastle and Wolverhampton with a Tapeta track, while Chelmsford, Kempton, Lingfield and Dundalk have a Polytrack surface.

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