The REAL reason why Great Leighs failed

Economic climate this, deep recession that...No, I've found the real reason why Great Leighs racecourse is struggling to survive and it may just surprise you.

Whilst reading 'Ghosts of East Anglia' by H. Mills West, I was fascinated to read about the 'Witch of Scrapfaggot Green'. Scrapfaggot Green is situated in Great Leighs.

The story goes like this: towards the end of the War, a landlord recorded a number of disturbances in one of his guestrooms - items placed in the room where either moved or smashed and this came with a disconcerting sound of boots scuffling the floor in an agitated fashion. One morning when the haunted room was opened, the wardrobe was found dismantled, lying neatly in its separate parts.
Despite these activities, business had to continue and when there were no other rooms available, the landlord had to let the haunted room. For these unlucky guests it would be a long and hair raising experience. One young woman who stayed in the room said she fell asleep but woke up shortly after, feeling convinced that there was someone else in the room. As she sat up in her bed, she could see a misty moving shape that menacingly circled the bed and eventually made its way out of the room. Nevertheless, the girl turned the light on and sat at her window all night, not daring to fall asleep.
All these stories drew publicity and one intrepid reporter (me in a few years?) managed to whittle out some valuable information from two elderly women of Great Leighs. They revealed that the event had all started as during the construction of a military base nearby, the builders had heaved a huge (and rare in this part of the country) boulder to make way for a road.
It is believed that this boulder sealed a witch's grave to prevent her from further mischief. In moving the stone, the builders had released the witch's ghost which had taken refuge in the public house. Once realised, a multitude of villagers gathered to heave the tombstone back into place, which they did and rid the village of the ghost.

Now, I haven't managed to locate Scrapfaggot Green exactly on modern maps but I am wondering if it was where Great Leighs racecourse now stands. Did the contractors move this stone to build the course? One cannot be sure but if they did, maybe the course is haunted and the failures of the track are due to our mischievous witch.

They can find all the investors they want, but maybe the survival of Essex's first racecourse is not in human hands...