MORE Flat fixtures and a new grandstand - just a couple of reasons why Wetherby Racecourse chief executive Jonjo Sanderson can't wait to welcome in the New Year.

The West Yorkshire track was forced to abandon their biggest event of the season - the two-day Christmas Meeting - after 40mm of rain left it flooded.

It would have seen as many as 20,000 people descending on the course, but, speaking before the closure, Sanderson said there was still much to look forward to over the next 12 months.

October saw the track unveil plans for a £3.2 million Members' Stand which is expected to see construction start in the summer.

Replacing a building that was opened in April 1960, the investment will construct an extension to the western end of the Millennium Grandstand and will provide new bars, betting shops and a new room for owners and trainers.

Four Flat meetings were also staged at the A1 course in the summer as Wetherby began the move towards becoming a dual purpose track - a successful start that will be repeated in 2016 with two evening meetings in May.

While Sanderson said the focus of the course would always remain on National Hunt, he added that, long term, Wetherby would look to welcome around eight Flat fixtures alongside a programme of 16 or 17 jumps fixtures.

He said: "2015 was an historic year with the four Flat fixtures, which went amazingly well from our point of view. I didn't imagine how popular they would be with the horsemen and the reviews we got were brilliant.

"Next year is a very important one. We have got the Grandstand redevelopment starting in June, where we will have four months without any racing.

"We are a jumps course fundamentally. Ascot, Catterick and Doncaster are the other way. We will be a majority of jumps fixtures and, in my ambition, that is 16 to 17 fixtures which move up to 25 or 26 in total with Flat.

"That would be eight to nine Flat meetings a year - during May, June, July and August - and then nothing from mid-August until mid-October.

"We wouldn't want to go mad and we would never want to steal runners that would have gone to Thirsk and elsewhere.

"But the feedback we had from people, particularly in Newmarket, was that they were really pleased with the configuration of the track, what it would do for the horse and how it would help them come on. That's our strength."

Sanderson added, though, that talk of a Pattern contest - specifically a Listed race - coming to Wetherby was premature at the moment.

"Of course we would welcome it but we don't want to run before we can walk," he added. "The fixtures went very well and we want to appeal to our customers - the racegoers.

"We want to race on Friday nights and Saturdays. We want to put the right races on and we want to appeal to the bookmakers but there is a balance to be had.

"There are some big projects ahead."