Pontefract Racecourse in safe hands as Jonathan Mullin balances tradition and vision

For the man who succeeded COO Richard Hamill and the long-serving managing director Norman Gundill in the newly-created chief executive role is a warmly-spoken 41-year-old scouser who understands the importance of this old sporting cathedral in its community.

Mullin may not be from these parts but he has put nearly 10 years into Yorkshire racing and used to live down the road in Featherstone.

“It’s funny,” he begins. “I used to drive up to Ripon racecourse from here and when I finally got a place up there, I’m now driving back down here.”

He had become such a part of the fabric at Ripon, the affectionately named Garden Racecourse, that he lived on the course. He began there in 2017 after completing an MBA in racing at the University of Liverpool in the role of marketing manager, but that quickly morphed into other roles that led him to become clerk of the course.

In the transition between getting started in his new role and handing over duties at Ripon, he has remained clerk of the course for racedays.

It has been a busy summer then, but a challenge he was ready for when the opportunity arose around Christmas.

“I love Ripon, I had seven great years there and I’m very grateful to James Hutchinson and Carl Tonks the head groundsman, who I learned so much from,” he says.

“But I couldn’t say no to this challenge. It’s not something that comes along every day, there’s only 59 racecourses across the country.

“I have no real strong desire to work for one of the courses controlled by a group, I’d much rather work for an independent racecourse like Ripon or Pontefract.”

If Mullin had become part of the fabric at Ripon, Gundill is interwoven into everything about Pontefract after working at the course for 50 years. He is still in the office as company secretary and a constant source for Mullin to lean on.

This first summer of 16 fixtures from April to October is very much about maintaining the course’s trajectory for Mullin, as he gets accustomed to being the main man.

“Pontefract and Ripon are very similar, they’re both traditional racecourses and everything comes down to budget, it’s a very big consideration for both courses,” he tells The Yorkshire Post.

“We try to run a tight ship, keep things as efficient as we can to put as much back into racing and as much back into facilities as possible.

“I have more of an appreciation of that now than I perhaps did before. I realise I can’t just say I want to do this or that, it has to be budgeted for.”

Mullin sees his role very much as trying to get people through the door to lift Pontefract’s standing and racing’s along with it.

He has bid to host a 17th meeting next June, and he has a long-term vision to upgrade facilities that some might see as quaint and traditional, others tired and dated.

“I’ve got some plans for how we move things forward; some in the short term, other potential longer-term projects,” says Mullin, mindful that he hasn’t put anything to the board yet.

"We are looking to continue develop and improve our racing programme. We’re looking to raise prize money on the whole and we have ambitions to upgrade one of our Listed races to a Group 3 in the next few years, which would be fantastic for Pontefract.

“From a facilities standpoint one of the things I’m looking to address in the first year or so is our owners and trainers facilities which are very good, and even though they were done 10 or 12 years ago and were well received at the time, ownership has changed so much in that short space of time that now that facility isn’t big enough.

"There’s no real way we could expand it in its current position, so we could look to split it across two facilities by converting a bar.

“I have a long-term idea that I’d like to bring the parade ring to the front of the racecourse in order to create an events space at the back of the stand for use not just on racedays but for use in general for the town of Pontefract.

“If we were to do that it would be beneficial not just for the racecourse but for the town as a whole.

“We do okay with conferences and events, we do them well and will look to have more, but there’s room in Pontefract for a real event facility.

“I think the racecourse would be the perfect place for it given we have everything in place for raceday that could be replicated.

“A big project like that would take a lot to achieve it. It’s something I’ll suggest at the board meeting at the end of the year. See what the appetite is for it and we can then maybe start looking at a project over an eight-, nine-, 10-year period.

“It would be a costly project but it has the prospect of being an income stream for not just the racecourse but also the town.

“You’ve got to have a dream and it’s something I’ve got in the back of my mind.”

On short-term priorities, he adds: “There will be changes but not sweeping changes because there’s a lot that’s good about the place and we don’t want to destroy that. It would be stupid to come in and tear that up.

“Although I do want to rip out those carpets,” he laughs.

“It’s about improving the race-day experience, improving the aesthetics of the racecourse.”

Mullin concludes: “The racecourse is a big part of the community but also the community is a big part of the racecourse. One benefits the other, and that’s something we want to harness.”