THE booming racing industry centred around the North Yorkshire market town of Middleham is celebrating its most successful year ever.

The Wensleydale community, which now boasts more than 500 horses in training at 16 stables, has broken the £3m prize-money barrier for the first time this season with a succession of lucrative and prestigious winners on the Flat.

In addition, more than £200,000 has already been won over fences this season, underlining Middleham's all-round strength.

The success has been built on a programme of improvements undertaken by the Middleham Trainers' Association in partnership with the community.

The association was granted £3m of matched funding in 1998 under the Rural Challenge initiative. As a result, the grass gallops on Low and High Moor have been substantially improved, along with the all-weather gallops on Low Moor.

The construction of 7.5km of walkways and an equine pool and therapy centre has also helped to greatly enhance Middleham's facilities for horses and staff.

Despite their success, the Middleham racing community has been frustrated that they have not enjoyed as high a profile as rival centres such as Newmarket and Lambourn.

To combat this, the trainers' association this week launched a campaign to raise awareness of the town's success.

Their inaugural media day on Tuesday was attended by Richmond MP William Hague, who pledged his support in a speech at the Middleham Key Centre.

He said: "The transformation here is a fantastic achievement, which is not due to any single individual but to the combined efforts of the trainers and the hard work of members of the community."

The trainers' association chairman James Bethell said: "This is a massive achievement. There has been a great deal of talk about the countryside being in decline, but we are certainly bucking that trend. We have saddled nearly 250 winners on the Flat alone this year.

"We believe our little town is one of racing's best-kept secrets. Although we produce a stream of winners, we still remain in the shadow of Newmarket, Lambourn and, to a lesser extent, our North Yorkshire neighbours Malton."

There was more good news for the town when leading trainer Mark Johnston scotched rumours that he might be leaving.

He said: "I am so happy here. The quality of life is superb, the facilities are second to none and the location is ideal - we never have any problem recruiting staff, so what more could anyone want?"

He also stressed that there was still plenty of scope for further success at Middleham, saying: "There are no limits. We should be aiming for the top. We are better off than anywhere else in the country."

Karl Burke, who moved north from Newmarket to train at Middleham's Spigot Lodge stables, was also optimistic about the future.

He said: "This is not the end of the road. The facilities will continue to progress and the gallops will continue to improve.