A road bridge over the Esk gives access to the course on race days only; the rest of the time, the gates are kept closed.

The first races in Musselburgh took place in 1777 under the auspices of the Royal Caledonian Hunt.

This hit Scotland particularly hard, with Lanark and Bogside racecourses both going bankrupt.

By the 1980s Musselburgh looked to be heading the same way, and, despite a temporary financial reprieve in 1987 when racecourses began to sell pictures of races to the betting shops, it was still losing money at the start of the 1990s.

This included a prestigious new hospitality stand (The Queen’s Stand), the refurbishment of the Edwardian Grandstand, the building of the Links Pavilion, a new weighing room and entrance complexes, a new parade ring, new stables and groundstaff facilities, extensive landscaping and improvements to the track itself.

[8] In 2012 an all weather strip was introduced to the track to prevent the bends being chopped up.