BANK Holiday Monday (May 28) sees Cumbria's leading flat racing at Carlisle Races combined with a special Red Wellies' Family Fun Day for the children.

This is a new fixture for Carlisle and, as it falls a month before the famous and valuable Carlisle Bell and Cumberland Plate races on June 27, the racecourse will be staging two "trial" races for those historic events.

The £10,000 Carlisle Bell Trial Handicap and the £10,000 Cumberland Plate Trial Handicap will be run over the exact distances of the respective big races and have been designed to offer horses the opportunity of having a prep race ahead.

Being a bank holiday, the Racecourse has made every effort to provide plenty of activities for children, with face painting, a giant inflatable galleon, an inflatable penalty shoot-out, bouncy castles, Punch and Judy and balloon modelling. But this race day in particular will be very special for children.

Carlisle Racecourse and renowned local children's publisher; Red Wellies, have combined forces to offer books to children visiting the track's May Bank Holiday Family Fun Day.

Carlisle Racecourse has been lucky enough to have its very own print run of just one thousand Felix the Fast Tractor books, which will be given to the first 1000 children aged 2-6 years at Monday's meeting.