RACING at Musselburgh will go ahead next Friday after an eleventh hour deal was struck between the British Horseracing Authority (BHA)and the course's management committee.

In an announcement today the BHA has confirmed they have issued a temporary licence covering the course to race for thenext six months.

The BHA said: "This follows agreement from the Musselburgh Joint Racing Committee (MJRC) and East Lothian Council that an independent governance review should take place, with a nine-month timeline for completion and implementation of recommendations.

"Having had the opportunity to clarify some issues with the MJRC, the BHA is satisfied that its licence condition has now been met."

Friday's fixtures were in jeopardy after the racecourse's licence ran out at the end of June and the British Racehorsing Authority gave the management committee until the end of the working day yesterday to agree to their call for an independent review of the governance of the racecourse and to accept its recommendations, before they would renew a licence.

East Lothian Council leader Councillor Willie Innes, who took over as chairperson of the Musselburgh Joint Racing Committee, which oversees management of the course, after May's local government elections, said yesterday that he had told the BHA the committee would agree to an independent governance review into the racecourse.

He said: “On behalf of the MJRC, I have asked East Lothian Council to commission such an independent review.

“I am grateful to the BHA for their ongoing engagement on these matters. My priority is to safeguard the future of racing at Musselburgh and I have been working to progress matters quickly and constructively."

Following the BHA announcement, Mr Innes added: "I welcome the BHA’s decision and will continue to progress matters positively in order to safeguard the future of racing at Musselburgh. I also welcome the BHA’s confirmation that upcoming race meetings can go ahead.”

Last night the BHA said it had extended a deadline on their decision over next Friday's fixtures to 12noon today to consider "a number of caveats" which the council and the MJRC had included in their agreement.

Shortly after 2pm they announced an agreement had been made.

John Prideaux, one of three Lothians Racing Syndicate members on the seven strong MJRC said the agreement came after the council dropped its demand to be in control of commissioning the review.

He said: "We are relieved that a last-minute solution has been found to meet the licencing requirements of the BHA and that racing will go ahead at Musselburgh on 14 July.

“This regretful and drawn-out episode has been extremely damaging to the reputation of Musselburgh Racecourse and we must now focus on rebuilding confidence in what is one of the Scotland’s best sporting assets.

“The Lothians Racing Syndicate made clear from the outset that we support the BHA requirement to hold a governance review and welcome the BHA ‘s insistence that the review be wholly independent and not simply commissioned by East Lothian Council as Cllr Innes wanted.

"We are committed to working with other MJRC members to ensure the best possible outcome for hard working racecourse staff and the racegoers, trainers and owners who have supported Musselburgh over the years.”

Councillor Stuart Currie, chairman of Musselburgh Common Good Fund, which owns the racecourse land, said the fact it came so close to be called off "beggars belief".

He called on Councillor Innes to step down from the committee.

He said: "The license requirement for a review has been known for months so quite why we got to the brink of losing fixtures beggars belief and, frankly, demonstrates why Councillor Innes should step aside as chairperson of the MJRC, he's just not up to the job. 

"The review must be independent, far reaching and the conclusions implemented as a matter of urgency, the current set up simply cannot continue."

Musselburgh Racecourse chief executive Bill Farnsworth said: “We are relieved that the BHA has been able to issue a licence to Musselburgh Racecourse which will allow our next meeting on Friday 14 July to proceed as scheduled.

“We are aware recent events have caused much uncertainty in the racing industry and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. We would urge racing fans, owners and trainers to support Musselburgh at this meeting as we seek to find a long-term solution to this unfortunate situation.

“We hope the proposed independent governance review will create a modern blueprint which puts the interests of the racecourse first and prevents any similar situation from arising in the future.”

Miles Briggs, Conservative MSP for Lothian and Convenor of the Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Scottish Horseracing & Bloodstock Industries, welcomed news an agreement had been reached.

He said: "It is a real relief as the alternative, Musselburgh losing races, would have been disastrous.

" But the fact that we faced the imminent cancellation of important race dates at Musselburgh and endured all the associated uncertainty and negative media coverage for the racecourse over recent months has been regrettable and damaging.

"Many local people and race goers believe there are real questions to be answered as to how this state of affairs came to arise and why the council could not have secured this agreement weeks ago, something that would have saved the dedicated racecourse staff from a period of significant stress.

" The focus now must be on the future and the governance review and I hope that can be taken forward as quickly as possible and that any positive proposals arising from that review can be put in place to help secure the long term future of the racecourse which is of such critical importance to the economy of Musselburgh and Lothian.”