THOROUGHBRED racehorse Franklee took to the cobbled streets of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile as it prepared for a new £50,000 race.
Musselburgh Racecourse signalled the start of its season by taking jockey GaryRutherford and his mount for a trot around the famous street in the capital.
Swapping the East Lothian turf for the cobbled streets of the Old Town, the pair are under starter’s order for the inaugural Betfred Royal Mile Handicap, the feature race of Musselburgh’s two day Easter Festival of Racing.
The one mile race, for three year old horses rated 0-100, is the main attraction of Easter Saturday Race Day on 7 April which boasts more than £100,000 in prize money.
The support race is the £20,000 Betfred Whistlejacket Condition Stakes and one of the country’s favourite sprinters, Borderlescott, is believed to be targeting the five furlong race.
Musselburgh is hoping to pull in more than 10,000 spectators over the Easter weekend and aims to position the Easter Racing Festival as an established two day fixture on the UK racing calendar.
This year the East Lothian course is hosting the £20,000 Musselburgh Gold Cup alongside a host of free family entertainment, topped by a visit by kids cartoon favourite Peppa Pig.
Musselburgh Racecourse general manager, Bill Farnsworthsaid: “Our ambition is to put Musselburgh on the map at the start of the flat season with our Easter Festival of Racing, combining a high quality card on the Saturday with our very popular family day on Easter Sunday.
“The Betfred Royal Mile Handicap will be a crowd pleaser and should attract top entries from stables looking to try out three year old horses which have matured and grown over the winter months.
“This race will feature horses which have the potential to contend in the prestigious Edinburgh Cup meeting at Musselburgh in June before going onto Royal Ascot and the other major flat fixtures across the UK.
“We hope racegoers will match our ambition by getting along to Musselburgh over the Easter weekend for what promises to be a cracking start to our flat season.”
