It would be too simplistic to say that tonight’s official opening of Romford’s new main grandstand is due to former Racing Manager Peter O’Dowd, but the man who has overseen the return reckons the track might not not be there but for the big Lancastrian.

It was back in November 2017 that a small repair job in the main grandstand unearthed that most toxic of all building substances, asbestos. Originally the builder’s friend as a light strong insulator and fire retardant, few realised when they build the building in the mid 1970s, of the mineral’s carcinogenic downside.

Up and runnng at Romford: new stand “soft” opening on Friday for Champion Stakes semis Photo: © Steve Nash

Once discovered and reported, the track was immediately shut down awaiting a visit from the local authority. As inspections took place and events unfolded, it soon emerged that it wasn’t just the main grandstand that was lined with asbestos. The whole site was riddled with the stuff, right down to an area above the track kennels.

Now that is what you call ‘service with a smile’

Within a fortnight, racing was allowed to return, but the public were barred. At least temporarily, and then allowed to return in greatly restricted numbers. Many owners, trainers and regulars (understandably) feared for the worst.

At the time, Ian Smyth was a regional manager for Ladbrokes with responsibility for several hundred shops in the South of England. But the merger with Coral presented an interesting career move. He became the first Head of Stadia for the four Ladbrokes Coral tracks the following March.

He said: “At the time of the original track closure, I was still managing the shops and noticed that Romford wasn’t appearing. But I had no idea what it was all about.”

The tote team

Behind the scenes, the Coral board would surely have considered their ‘housing estate’ options?

Instead, they opted to demolish the main grandstand, gut and rebuild the Millennium Stand on the ‘cheap side’. They sold the carpark site on the opposite side of London Road and made plans to build a new car park in place of the demolished main grandstand.

No figures were ever published, but original estimates put the cost at around £10m, less the sale of the car park. Total bill, probably around £7m.

But according to Smyth, by far the biggest danger to the site was not the cost, but the potential collapse of racing.

What can I get you?

In fact, Coral had only recently renewed their contract with SIS when the possibility of track closure became an imminent possibility.

Ian Smyth said: “Take yourself back to the winter of 2017 and the uncertainty of the media rights issue as in its infancy. Nobody knew what was happening. Towcester was still open, trainers were swapping tracks by the week, and our trainers were being approached.

“The reason that they didn’t leave was undoubtedly because of the bond that they had formed with Peter O’Dowd. They trusted him when he told them, that in his opinion, the track was safe.

A stunning Steve Nash wall – as photographed by Brian Murphy (this action photography is easy!).

“I had no doubts. Not once was I ever given the impression from the Coral board that they weren’t absolutely committed to Romford. I simply wouldn’t have taken the job if they were. But who can blame the trainers for fearing for their future?

“If our trainers had deserted us at that time, I have no doubt that the stadium would have closed.

“I genuinely believe that Peter had a bond with the trainers that you would struggle to replicate anywhere else in the industry,”

 

It has been a long road with owners, trainers and patrons putting up with huge inconvenience and disruption. So what were the best and worst times?

Smyth said: “I can clearly remember the worst time. We were looking to demolish the main grandstand and we came across an electrical box probably a foot and a half square. It was jammed full of electrical wiring, all inter-weaved and nothing labelled.

“We wouldn’t just cut power to it, because we didn’t know which part of the site each wire was servicing, including the main administration building. It took six weeks to sort out, and all the time it looked as though we weren’t actually doing anything. We even had to go back to SIS and ask them to extend the changes to racedays. It was very embarrassing.

“The best time has been the last three months. Just to hear the feedback and read the comments. Mark (Wallis) made one on your site a few weeks ago basically saying ‘I am not sure that they will be ready on time, but I am so looking forward to it re-opening.’

“At that stage, you wouldn’t have found many people confident of us meeting the deadline, myself included. But it is those positive comments, about looking forward to the future, that that make you realise just how much the place means to people.

“But there have been so many kind words. There has been an absolute buzz for weeks now all leading up to opening night. We had our dummy run last week, and not everything went to plan, but every single complaint was constructive.

“We still aren’t quite where we wanted to be. There is a small part of the terracing that isn’t quite finished. That will take our capacity down to around 1,660, instead of 1,750. But that will be sorted by next week. We have to decide whether the numbers can justify us keeping the marquee open. We have permission until February 2021. Without it, we drop to 1,500.

“The other main work still to be carried out is in the track kennels. We have new lighting and flooring, and there will be an upgrade to the air conditioning. But I wasn’t happy with the new kennel doors so we are still waiting for them to arrive. It won’t be long, probably within the next ten to twelve weeks.”

There used to be a grandstand over there!