FOR drivers motoring down the A131, not much has changed at the newly christened Chelmsford City Racecourse in Great Leighs. A sign with the Betfred logo decorates the ground's entrance and the odd digger or cement mixer is seen inside.
Yet behind the embankment which blocks our view and underneath the 74 floodlight columns towering above our heads, about 50 contractors are on site each day pushing ahead on a £25 million project to ensure racing returns by January.
The skeleton of the 3,000-capacity grandstand has been built in three months, its underground walkway for horses is in use and its extra mile-long turf track is a plush green shade.
"It's very exciting," said course clerk Andy Waitt, while giving the Chronicle a walking tour this week.
"We're really looking forward to racing beginning in January and everybody across the board is extremely excited.
"We're on schedule and I'm personally very pleased with everything."
With the owners running so close to schedule, they still hope to bring the Essex County Show back to Great Leighs, host big-name concerts and build a 10,000-capacity grandstand by 2018.
He added: "All non-racing events are all part of the business plan – shows, concerts – if the ground allows for it.
"I would absolutely like to have the Essex County Show here. I wouldn't have thought the owners are planning for that for next year but for the future, why not?"
When owners Great Leighs Estates Ltd bought the track from the Royal Bank of Scotland last December, most of it investment from Betfred tycoon Fred Done, the ground was overgrown with weeds, the drains gaped open and its underground walkway was flooded.
Now, however, the racecourse appears pristine, with the final rubber pathways being laid and the £6 million grandstand will be finished in November.
The two-storey stand, overlooking the winning post, will boast a 360-degree panoramic viewing platform, two large restaurants and a betting ring.
Contractor ISG is installing windows, tiling the roof and installing a picnic area beside the complex.
Two lakes, which provide irrigation for the turf track, and a small ancient woodland planted inside the course, will remain on the site, providing an effect reminiscent of Chantilly racecourse in France.
A tarmac track has also been built parallel to, but outside of, the course, ensuring the ambulance and veterinary service can drive to an incident within 60 seconds.
Globetrotting horses also graced the all-weather track in March and April, including The Fugue trained by John Gosden, Red Cadeaux trained by Ed Dunlop, as well as Dank and Hillstar, trained by Sir Michael Stoute
"It's the biggest project I've worked on and the most exciting," said Andy, a veteran at Great Leighs.
The 51-year-old, who worked as a Sandown racecourse groundsman in his native Surrey for 17 years, transferred from Lingfield racecourse to Great Leighs with company Arena Leisure when John Holmes owned the track.
After the course was plunged into administration in January 2009, with Mr Holmes declaring himself bankrupt and owing £25 million, Andy returned as course clerk when MC Racetracks took over in 2011.
The father-of-one, who lives with his partner and racecourse stables manager Sam McGinn in Black Notley, became the full-time clerk this January when the owners approached him. "I jumped at the chance," he said.
The BHA is expected to announce how many fixtures Great Leighs receives, on top of 12 it has already been granted, next month.
Course chairman Joe Scanlon is hoping that with its turf and all-weather tracks both ready to use, the owners will secure as many as 80 fixtures for next year.
Ex-owner John Holmes, who is expected to return bail in February 2015 over allegations of a £2.4 million VAT fraud, has previously wished the new owners "every success".
He lives just yards from the course in his farmhouse in Moulsham Hall Lane but cannot set foot on the grounds.
"He is not involved and is not allowed to be," said Andy.
