RACECOURSE owner Northern Racing yesterday reported a fall in profits after the weather and uncertainty over the UK racing industry's future adversely affected the first half.

Northern Racing, which owns courses at Newcastle and Sedgefield, was formed last October when Chepstow Racecourse acquired Northern Racing to form one of the largest racecourse operators in the UK.

The merged group said profits in the six months to June 20 fell to £1.2m from last year's £2.1m - the latter figure representing the two companies' combined profits.

The company, which owns seven other UK racecourses, including Chepstow, has been affected by bad weather causing race abandonments as well as continued uncertainty over media rights in the sport