Stairway to racing heaven: Mr Morgan says Ffos Las is a winner

He has thrown his weight behind the �16m project for an equestrian centre of excellence on the 608-acre former Ffos Las opencast coal mine.

Last week Carmarthenshire planners gave the go ahead for first new racecourse in the UK for 75 years and the third in Wales.

Mr Morgan said: "It's a win-win, situation when you take an old mine, potentially an eyesore, and turn it into somewhere for tourists to come.

"Wales does need a third race track. Trimsaran is a very good location. This will help generate a complete new kind of income to put the Gwendraeth Valley on the map."

Grandstand view: The racecourse project will cost �16m

He said the location, 90 miles west of Chepstow, was ideal to attract the interest of race horse owners and punters from Ireland, an increasingly important country in the horse racing industry.

"This is exactly the kind of investment that the area needs.

"The fact that it will be built on an open cast mine symbolised the economic transformation of the Gwendraeth Valley."

Developers aim to create a one mile, five furlong floodlit all-weather track with a grandstand; equestrian centre; harness course; trotting facilities; polo club and hotel accommodation.

The site, which was owned by Celtic Energy, has been bought by the Aberdare-based civil engineering group Walters Group.

The British Horse Racing Board has already granted Ffos Las Racing Ltd 10 turf racing fixtures. The firm hopes to hold the first meeting in the summer of 2005.

Link road

The racetrack will be built on the site of the former quarry, which was filled with the soil and sandstone taken out to access the coal, but other developments such as the buildings will be constructed on non-quarried ground.

Director David Thursfield said he was satisfied that monitoring of the settlement on the replaced topsoil and subsoil has shown it had stabilised, although it was likely the topsoil was now sterile.

"We will do all sorts of tests with the soil, but there are things you can do now that will introduce nutrients to the soils so that things can grow again."

Carmarthenshire council is set to look again at its priorities for the proposed Gwendraeth Valley link road to see if the section nearest Trimsaran can be brought forward.