WHEN racing entrepreneur Stan Clarke first set foot on Brighton Racecourse he had a vision for the future.

Where he was shown a leaky concrete stand, he saw a gleaming grandstand packed with thousands of cheering spectators.

Where he inspected the decrepit facilities he saw bustling restaurants and hospitality boxes and on the muddy course itself he saw a field of top racehorses in a Derby Trial racing along a perfectly green, irrigated track.

When racegoers make their way to Brighton Racecourse on Thursday next week, for the first meeting of the season, they will be able to see the first stage of Stan Clarke's dream has become reality.

For the last four months, teams of workmen have been busy transforming the course, thanks to a £1.5 million investment by Mr Clarke's company Northern Racing, which took over the course last year.

Project

And that is just the beginning. Over the next four years the company hopes to plough a total £4 million into the project and help make it the pride of the South Coast.

Mr Clarke certainly knows how to pick a winner. His company has successfully made winning businesses out of Uttoxeter and Newcastle racecourses.

The racing supremo also won a Grand National with one of his horses, Lord Gyllene, in 1987.

He said: "I have been running businesses since I was 21 and in that time you build up a natural instinct about what suits you, rather like picking a good racehorse.

"I have never, ever had a moment of regret about getting involved in this racecourse.

"Every time I come down here I get excited. I know this is going to be a great place."

In its heyday, crowds of 20,000 regularly visited the races, made infamous by Graham Greene's novel Brighton Rock.

But during the Seventies the course went into decline and attendances slumped to sometimes no more than a few hundred hardcore fans.

Mr Clarke's company took over in March last year following a deal with Brighton and Hove Council in which Northern Racing holds an 81 per cent stake in the racecourse.

The first thing the new owners did was to irrigate and drain a notoriously poor track.

The idea was that better ground conditions would attract the big names in racing and thus bigger crowds.

Since January the company has created seven new hospitality suites, built a new parade ring and winners' enclosure, refurbished bars and restaurants, and undertaken essential safety work and improvements to the grandstand.

Plans are also under way to increase annual prize money to £1 million, attract more race sponsors, introduce evening and weekend meetings, and negotiate for television coverage.

Highlight

Mr Clarke's ultimate aim is to bring back the money-spinning Derby Trial - the highlight of the Flat racing season.

The idea is to put the racecourse not only on the map in the world of racing but in the Brighton scene as well.

Mr Clarke said: "We have recognised very quickly the potential here is enormous.

"We want to capture people's imagination. We want to encourage more people to come to Brighton and for it to become part of the attraction in this part of the country.

"I believe by good management, customer care, and substantial investment we can make Brighton Racecourse a very very special place.

"I want the racecourse to contribute to the economy of Brighton and make a major impact on racing.

"It's got a marvellous tradition and history. We think we can bring that back - without the razor gangs, of course."

Plans are also under way to make the racecourse an attractive non-race venue for conferences, dance functions, computer fairs, and weddings.

Phil Bell, general manager of the racecourse, said: "Until we took over the racecourse had not really been touched in more than 30 years."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.