Great Leighs once had a lion's head over the outlet. In 2008, Great Leighs became home to the first new racecourse in 80 years, when the nearby Essex County Showground was converted into a state-of-the-art horse-racing venue. Great Leighs Racecourse held its first race meeting on 20 April 2008 and staged its first meeting fully open to the public from 28 to 29 May 2008. However, the course had its temporary licence revoked on 16 January 2009 and did not seen racing again unto 11 January 2015. Great Leighs Great Leighs is a village in the City of Chelmsford district of Essex,
Fair Grounds Race Course of Broomstick, ran many of his 266 races. The track consists of a one-mile (1.6 km) dirt track and a seven furlong turf oval. In addition to the grandstand and clubhouse, an adjacent building, formerly used for simulcasting, opened on September 21, 2007 as a temporary slot-machine gaming facility. On November 14, 2008, the new slot-machine facility opened for operation. In a normal year the following graded stakes are run at Fair Grounds, the most prestigious of which is the Louisiana Derby, a Grade II stakes. The race is a major preparatory race for the Kentucky Derby as part of