Ffos Las Racecourse

Ffos Las Racecourse & Conference Centre is a Welsh horse racing, equestrian sports, and conferencing venue. Ffos Las’ translation to English is known as ‘blue ditch’, inaugurated on June 18, 2009. It is originally named after the farm that once occupied the site. It is situated between the old mining villages of Trimsaran and Carway. It is at the site formerly an open cast coal mine, located in the heart of Carmarthenshire between the towns Llanelli and Carmarthen, only 15 minutes from junction 48 M4, and only an hour drive from the Irish Ferry terminals of Pembroke Dock and Fishguard, specifically located at Trimsaran Carmarthenshire SA17 4DE. The track was built after the mining operations were ceased. It is surrounded by rolling hills and countryside, with spectacular views down the Gwendraeth Valley to Carmarthen Bay.

It became the first new National Hunt racecourse to be built in the United Kingdom for 80 years and is Wales’s third racecourse along with Chepstow and Bangor-On-Dee. It is also home to the Welsh Champion Hurdle and owned by Arena Racing Company, by which Flat and National Hunt races are screened on Sky Sports Racing. The best horse to have raced at Ffos Las is the champion two-mile chaser Sprinter Sacre, who won a novices’ hurdle by ten lengths in February 2011.

The first flat race held at the track is the EBF/Jamie Yeates Memorial Maiden Stakes on July 21, 2009, while the first race meeting featuring harness racing was held on May 9, 2010. In 2018, Ffos Las was purchased by Arena Racing Company (ARC) from the founder, Dai Walters.