Bomb disposal officers were called to Newbury Racecourse on Friday after the discovery of a suspicious object by builders working on the David Wilson Homes development site.
Just 24 hours before the racecourse hosts a star-studded card featuring the Grade Two Betfair Denman and Game Spirit Chases along with the Betfair Hurdle, a bomb disposal team attended the scene along with police, but after examination the item was revealed to be an old fire extinguisher.
Newbury’s head of communications Andy Clifton told the Racing Post:
During the construction work that is going on down the far end of the site, they came across what looked like it could have been an unexploded bomb.
We obviously called the police and set up a little exclusion zone and the bomb disposal squad came along and took the suspect object away. It turns out it was an old fire extinguisher.
The incident has not prevented efforts to prepare the racecourse for Saturday’s card which sees the appearance of equine stars such as Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner Altior, Fox Norton, Ballyandy and Gold Cup possibilities Native River and Bristol De Mai, with Clifton adding:
It was in a construction area near the five-furlong start, well away from the stands, so it didn’t make any difference to our preparations for tomorrow.
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