Down Royal Needs Legislation Change The spotlight is turning to Down Royal for its successful two-day mini-festival but racecourse chairman Jim Nicholson is not content.He has called for legislation to be altered to allow a third day to take place.Under current Northern Ireland legislation, Sunday racing and betting is not permitted in the province. Two years ago, the Northern Ireland Assembly voted 48 to 20 in favour of change, but the Government insists that it has more pressing measures to consider.Nicholson said: 'Now is the time to provide parity with the Republic and Britain. We have a world-class two-day meeting at Down Royal this weekend and we could extend it to three days if we were allowed to race on Sundays. 'Our corporate boxes are sold out and we have a waiting list for sponsors so we could easily sell another day's sponsorship. 'The cost to the local economy of not having a third day is immense. Every bed in the borough is sold out and the province is losing out on the tourist front bysome 1,500 bed nights at an estimated #500,000.'
