Stansted Airport Chamber of Commerce

Great Leighs racecourse is formally on standby to accommodate the 24 horses flying to China for the Olympic Games from Stansted International Airport on July 30.

The horses - which include dressage horses and three-day eventers representing Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the USA - will have completed their pre-export quarantine at various sites across the UK and assemble at Stansted for the flight. Great Leighs, just 15 minutes from the airport, will be called into service in the event of a technical problem with the aircraft or a typhoon warning in Hong Kong, where the 2008 equestrian Olympic events are staged.

Great Leighs stables complex

Representatives of Peden, the official horse transporters, and DEFRA finalized arrangements at Great Leighs this week. As Britain's brand new racecourse, Great Leighs' extensive, secure race-day stabling area has been built to the upgraded specification of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), so sailed easily through the quarantine checklist. The requirement conveniently falls between the gap in racing at Great Leighs between July 22 and August 14 and is approved by the BHA. No-one unconnected with the horses may enter the area after it has been formally signed off by Great Leighs' senior veterinary officer Marc Auerbach for DEFRA on July 23, until the horses are safely in the air a week later.

The Olympic test event in Hong Kong this time last year was disrupted by a typhoon and ran several days behind schedule. Great Leighs chairman John Holmes said: "In the best interests of the horses we naturally hope that nothing goes wrong and that we don't see them here! But we are delighted that the international significance of our stabling and quarantine facilities has been recognised, especially as we are only a 50-minute drive from Greenwich, site of the Olympic horse park in 2012."

Great Leighs' secure stabling area comprises 134 looseboxes with extra-wide aisles and closed-circuit security TV, loading ramps, veterinary treatment and medication control units, wash-down boxes, tack stores, hard-standing horsebox parking, rest rooms, offices and a well-appointed stable staff canteen.

Great Leighs has already been selected to be a Pre-Games Training Camp for equestrianism in 2012.