THE Queen will be visiting Musselburgh Racecourse for its 200th anniversary, it has been confirmed.

Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, will visit the East Lothian track next Friday (July 8).

The Royal visit is the highpoint of the racecourse’s Bi-Centenary Raceday, which celebrates 200 years of horseracing on the links course.

The occasion also gives Scottish racing fans and East Lothian residents the chance to see The Queen in her 90th birthday year.

Her Majesty will present a specially commissioned Bi-Centenary Cup to the winning connections of the feature race.

Bill Farnsworth, Musselburgh Racecourse chief executive, said: “We are thrilled and honoured to host Her Majesty and Prince Phillip in a double celebration of her landmark 90th birthday and the 200th year since racing was established at Musselburgh.

“The Queen is synonymous with horseracing and we are delighted she has decided to visit Musselburgh as part of Holyrood Week and put the Royal seal on our 200th birthday celebrations.

"We are sure she will see many changes since she last visited in 1995 and we hope to put on an exciting raceday for her and the Royal guests.”

The racecourse appealed to racing fans and local residents to make the Royal visit a family occasion, encouraging them to bring picnics and enjoy a day’s full programme of festivities and family entertainments.

Music will be provided by The Regimental Band of The Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Pipes and Drums of The Royal Scots Borderers, accompanied by Royal Regiment of Scotland mascots Cruachan lll and lV.

The Royal party will be hosted in the Queen’s Stand, in which the Queen performed the official opening 21 years ago, and will be treated to an exhibition Harness Race before the Bi-Centenary Cup Race.

Sarah Montgomery, the racecourse’s senior operations and commercial manager, added: “This is an opportunity for families, friends and work colleagues to come to Musselburgh to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday and our own 200 years as a horse racing venue.

"We are all looking forward to what will be a very special occasion and we could not have hoped for a better way to crown our Bi-Centenary year.”

Community, educational and charity organisations taking part in the Bi-Centenary Raceday include Racing Together, Sporting Memories, Scottish Racing, Great British Racing, and East Coast FM.

The racecourse is offering a £5 discount on the usual £25 admission fee to racegoers booking online and all children aged 17 and under are admitted free when accompanied by an adult.

For more information and to book tickets, visit www.musselburgh-racecourse.co.uk