Eight English race meetings, kicking off with Doncaster's Pertemps St Leger Festival, are set to be staged with crowds next month as part of the UK government’s pilot scheme to return spectators to elite sport.
The St Leger meeting, which runs from 9-12 September, Warwick on 21 September and Newmarket’s Cambridgeshire meeting from 24-26 September will all permit racegoers, with Doncaster planning for a maximum of 3,640 general admissions on the Wednesday, rising to 6,202 on the final three days of the fixture.
The pilot events in England are designed to test stage five of the government’s return to elite sport plan, as well as operating protocols set out by the Sports Ground Safety Authority.
Each track had to submit a detailed risk assessment and operating plan to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and the fixtures have been selected to provide "a detailed case study for other racecourses to follow", considering factors "such as size and ownership of venue, profile of fixture, logistics of essential raceday services such as catering and betting and geography within Britain".
Racing has taken place behind closed doors in Britain since the resumption of the sport on 1 June, although owners have been permitted back on track since Derby day at Epsom on 4 July, and last week a small number of on-course bookmakers also returned.
A previous plan to trial a crowd during Glorious Goodwood had to be shelved when government advice was updated following concern about the possibility of a new spike in Covid-19 cases.
However, David Armstrong, chief executive of the Racecourse Association, believes valuable lessons were learned from that process, even if the event did not actually happen.
He said: "We are pleased to receive confirmation of our pilot events to welcome back crowds to racecourses and once again thank DCMS for entrusting the sport with this responsibility.
"Racecourses have been working for some time to this end and we are confident the events selected will provide strong case studies which will be of use to all.
"The disappointment of postponing our last confirmed pilot at Goodwood was felt across the sport, but the learnings and behind-the-scenes work have been of great value to others. Racing is ready to proceed in a safe manner and we are looking forward to once again welcoming crowds back to the racecourse."
Tickets for Doncaster will go on sale on Friday, with the track’s owners Arena Racing Company underlining a new code of conduct will be in place for all attendees, along with a number of additional facilities to allow racegoers to maintain social distancing, personal hygiene and other measures.
Mark Spincer, managing director of ARC’s racing division, said: "We are delighted that the government and local authorities have taken the decision to allow us to pilot the return of a crowd at Doncaster Racecourse.
"We were very proud to host the return of racing behind closed doors at Newcastle at the beginning of June and are grateful to the government for showing confidence in us to host this event.
"As with all sport and other live events, welcoming a crowd is absolutely fundamental to our business as well as being the heart and soul of the spectacle. The team at Doncaster have worked incredibly hard on making sure that we have all of the steps in place to welcome a limited number of spectators in a safe and efficient manner and we are really looking forward to welcoming people back on site to enjoy four excellent days of racing.
"The event is, of course, a pilot so the experience may be different than customers may have got used to in previous years, but we are putting everything in to making sure that our customers can have an enjoyable afternoon’s racing as well as offering valuable feedback to the process of allowing crowds back to sporting events more generally."
The pilot events only relate to English tracks, with Scottish racing leading discussions with Scottish government, while a delegation led by the British Horseracing Authority and ARC has led similar discussions with the Welsh government for racecourses in Wales.
Paying spectators have been absent from Irish racecourse since action resumed on these shores at Naas in early June.
All spectators are currently banned from sporting events until at least 13 September, with only the most optimistic of fans anticipating a return to the track in middle of the month.
The situation in Europe's other major racing jurisdiction is very different, with racecourses in France welcoming fans through the gates since 11 July and attendances capped at 5,000 people.
