Milnerton Racecourse

Description

Milnerton Racecourse is situated in Milnerton, Cape Town, and is owned and managed by Gold Circle. Although the racecourse is not used for horse racing anymore, it is still used for the training and stabling of racing horses.

A large portion of the land around the race track was sold for the Royal Ascot in Milnerton residential development. The City of Cape Town’s Environmental Resource Management Department has retained the land inside the race track and used it for nature conservation purposes. This conservation land was formerly known as the Royal Ascot Conservation Area, but is now called the Milnerton Racecourse Nature Reserve (MRNR).

The MRNR is approximately 17.6 ha in size and is divided into two portions, a northern area and a larger southern area. The two areas are physically separated - in the past by the horse racing track, and today by residential development. The MRNR is situated to the east of Royal Ascot in Milnerton and has remained relatively untouched by development. Due to the removal of tall alien trees that would obstruct views of the running horses, the land has also remained free of invasive alien plants. Historically, this now remnant natural veld would have been connected to the Rietvlei wetland complex.