There is just over a month until the 2005/06 all-weather season begins and
Britain's three all-weather tracks - Lingfield Park, Wolverhampton and
Southwell - continue to raise the profile of what was once deemed the poor
relation of British racing.

The three courses, all owned by Arena Leisure, have had £14 million
invested in them over the past three years alone.

The new all-weather season runs from November 7 through to March 18, 2006,
with almost £5 million in prize money and will culminate at Lingfield on
Saturday, March 18, with the day's card carrying £270,000 in prize money,
headlined by the £100,000 Listed betdirect.co.uk Winter Derby.

The very prestigious and valuable Littlewoods Bet Direct all-weather
championships are presented at the awards' dinner that night at Lingfield.

The four trainers's awards are worth a total of £32,000, with an extra
£16,000 going to their stable staff, while the four leading jockeys share
£24,000. A new apprentice jockey award has been created for this season,
with £6,000 to the winner and £2,000 to the second. Readers of the Racing
Post vote for the all-weather Horse Of The Year.

Britain's first all-weather Group race was staged at Lingfield Park in July
when the mile Group Three Ladbrokes Silver Trophy took place.

The Geoff Wragg-trained Autumn Glory prevailed by a neck in a thrilling
finish from Ed Dunlop's Court Masterpiece who has since won a Group Two
contest at Goodwood and the Group One Prix de la Foret at Longchamp,
France, on October 1.

The Ladbrokes Silver Trophy attracted five previous Group winners including
Chic, subsequent winner of the Group Two Celebration Mile. Major stables
represented included those of Sir Michael Stoute, Henry Cecil and Clive
Brittain.

Arena's three all-weather tracks offer a programme that prepares horses for
both global and domestic campaigns. The Gerard Butler-trained Jack Sullivan
benefited from a race on Lingfield's Polytrack ahead of his trip early in
the year to Dubai where he won two races, including the Group Three Maktoum
Challenge (Round II) at the Dubai International Racing Carnival, as well as
finishing fourth in the world's richest race, the Dubai World Cup.

Eccentric, one of the success stories of the last all-weather season, has
shown the merits of racing on Polytrack through the winter months. Trained
in north London by Andrew Reid, Eccentric was voted all-weather Horse of
the Year by Racing Post readers after four Polytrack victories that
culminated in the betdirect.co.uk Winter Derby and went on to win the Group
Three Winter Hill Stakes at Windsor in August.

Arena Leisure is committed to staging a race programme that provides
opportunities for all horses, offering the incentives of excellent prize
money and being able to accommodate horses early in their careers, allowing
them to progress.

The advent of Polytrack has changed the face of all-weather racing. Arena
was the first operator in the world to install the much-praised surface in
2001, spending £3 million to do so at Lingfield Park, followed by
Wolverhampton last year.

Polytrack is safer, more consistent and does not create the same level of
kick-back associated with dirt and sand tracks. Following the tremendous
success of the Polytrack surface at Arena Leisure's tracks, Kentucky's
Turfway Park in the United States started racing on it on September 7 this
year, something which was very well received by trainers, jockeys and the
media.

Other tracks in the US are planning to follow Arena Leisure's lead and
Keeneland, which installed Polytrack on a training track last year, is
expected to race on the surface by September, 2006. The positive response
to Polytrack in the US means that Arena Leisure's commitment to the surface
could be of great significance in an increasingly global sport.

Equally, the different surface at Southwell, Fibresand, means that horses
in Britain have an alternative all-weather surface to race on.

Ian Renton, Arena Leisure's Racing Director, commented: "All-weather racing
at Lingfield, Wolverhampton and Southwell is going from strength to
strength and we are committed to improving the quality further.

"The 2005/06 all-weather season will be the best ever and we are looking
forward to it immensely."

For further information, please contact: Kate Hills, Head of Public
Relations, Arena Leisure Racecourse Division, Mob: 07813 947201, Email:
kate.hills@arenaleisureplc.com

Background Notes

2004/2005 Littlewoods Bet Direct All-Weather Championships

Champion National Trainer - Paul Blockley
Owner of the Year - Nigel Shields
Champion Regional Trainers:-
Lingfield Park - Andrew Reid
Southwell - David Barron
Wolverhampton - Mark Brisbourne
Champion Jockeys (National)
First - Neil Callan, Second - Eddie Ahern, Third - Chris Catlin , Fourth
-Jimmy Quinn
Leading Amateur Jockey - Scott Dobson

Racing Post All-Weather Horse of the Year and Winner of the Winter Derby -
Eccentric, owned by Gary Tanaka & trained by Andrew Reid.

Please note that all the trainers' awards this season will be decided on
a national basis.