Ffos Las has brought back top class racing back to West Wales for the first time since 1937. You can find it in the heart of Carmarthenshire between the towns Llanelli and Carmarthen, only 15 minutes from junction 48 M4, and only an hours drive from the Irish Ferry terminals of Pembroke Dock and Fishguard.
The setting is magnificent. It is surrounded by rolling hills and countryside and has a view down the Gwendraeth Valley to Carmarthen Bay. It is almost impossible to believe that it is the former site of the largest open cast coalmine in Europe.
This ambitious project has been created by South Wales civil engineering company The Walters Group, and the driving force behind it is the company chairman and racehorse owner Mr David Walters.
The track is going to provide a racing surface to rival any course in the world. It is 60m wide, has the benefit of miles of drainage and has been created level to provide a superb track to race on and a great viewing track for the racegoer.
From the opening meeting on Thursday June 18th 2009 Ffos Las will stage both National Hunt and Flat fixtures. It has excellent facilities and infrastructure for the racegoer, including ample free parking, a large stand housing plenty of bars and betting outlets. Above all it will offer a great view of high quality racing in picturesque surroundings.
The racing programme is set to be of a very high quality, and with Wales’ Horse Trainers currently flying high, and Irish Trainers keen to visit the track those who attend are guaranteed a feast of good racing.
One of the main focal points at Ffos Las Racecourse has to be our amazing sculpture. Situated in front of the Winners Enclosure, the “Spirit of the Race” sculpture provides the perfect meeting place as well as a great photo opportunity. The sculpture was created by local artist Chris Crane.
Fine Artist Chris Crane was born in Kendal, Cumbria, and moved to the Gwendraeth Valley in 2000 after graduating in Fine Art in Cardiff.
He has been involved in projects with the National Botanic Garden of Wales, with an exhibition of British wildlife made from recycled metal in 2005. During 2006 he was involved in the project to define the global region zones in the great glasshouse.
His time is divided by work on private commissions and more public pieces such as the sculpture of Truith the boar, from the tales of Mabinogion, at the Millennium Coastal path in Llanelli.
The inspiration for his work is just as likely to come from the objects people bring him as from the wildlife itself. The forging tongs for the horses’ legs came from a neighbour who had made them during his apprenticeship in the coal industry many years ago…..very fitting for a racecourse that has been developed from an old opencast coal mine.
Website : http://www.ffoslasracecourse.com