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“Current restrictions likely to last 6 months” which takes us to just after the Festival.
In the past few weeks – within about a month – the government have told us to –
Get kids back to school
Go back to work
Eat out to Help outPerhaps if they had phased these in then they may not have had to blame us for the spike.
It will not be just Cheltenham. It will be Aintree as well. And I would not be at all surprised to see a second Derby and Royal Ascot behind closed doors as well. Because there is no end in sight. The government seems to either want to eliminate Covid 19 altogether (an impossibility) or is betting the house on a vaccine becoming available. Which could take a very long time.
This winter is going to be grim.
Sorry to say Jac, Newmarket has cancelled the test this weekend.
Following guidance that the Government’s programme of spectator pilots has been postponed, the Cambridgeshire Meeting will take place at the Rowley Mile 24th to 26th September as a behind closed doors fixture.
This will be limited to participants, racehorse owners and essential raceday personnel observing the existing strict health and safety protocols that have been in place across British Racing since the sport resumed without spectators on 1st June.
Disappointed but not surprised Paul as can imagine all the work that has to be undertaken keeping just 1000 racegoers socially distanced and agree with the decision not to proceed and at least we know where we stand no more .. will they? won’t they?
Newmarket have looked after their Annual Members very well throughout this giving us pass codes for free daily access to Racing TV when meetings have been scheduled and have done all they can to keep us updated, can’t fault them so I will be carrying my Membership over to 2021, but that in itself means a huge drop in revenue for Newmarket and all racecourses who rely on the annual subscriptions etc and can only mean that prices for tickets, racecards and cooperate entertaining will increase substantially in the years to come. A price we will all have to pay to keep our most precious sport.
JacThings turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...No idea. Despite my user name I am not from Ireland. Cork All Star won the Champion Bumper and won me a lot of money – hence the name.
Having said that, I am a regular visitor to Ireland, or was until last year. The Covid restrictions in Ireland have generally been more severe than in the UK. I do not expect the situation to change there any time soon.
I just hope we avoid a second lockdown here and another suspension of racing. That would be disastrous for the jumps season.
Ex Ruby Light, in Ireland we have pt to pts behind closed doors country-wide, with a list of who can attend, and the rules they must follow. Between the rails, ‘two people per owner’ can attend from next Monday, with nothing further outlined into the future. As for the country in general, it’s similar to the UK – children back to school, pubs open (‘wet’ pubs only since yesterday), work from home if you can… we have an alert system in place. Country in general is at level 2, but Dublin has seen a major spike and is at level 3. This means tighter restrictions for three weeks in that area.
Thanks Louise and also thanks to you Cork, I was trying to spot any significant differences between both countries, but I Think it would be too much guesswork at the moment.
Personally, I think the new lockdown will be catastrophic for the NH sport. With Aintree, Ayr and Punchestown already lost this year, the outlook for next spring seems even worse. Considering the likes of Gigginstown (prior to Corona) and Trevor Hemmings already stepping down their operations, one day you’ll ask yourself “who’s still left in the game?”.
The trials with 500 or even 1,000 racegoers per meeting should have been kept alive. You have so much space on a racetrack just to do what is needed during Corona, social distancing…..
But looking at other countries with much lesser infections (like Germany for example who “only” had 88 deaths so far in September) the lockdown seems to be the politicians favourite thing. I think that one year from now, we’ll still be wearings masks….
I think the organizations which can reasonably demonstrate that they can hold socially distanced spectator events without huge risks will have to challenge the powers that be or go under.
There are risks but with all precautions taken life needs to go on.
I think certain sports will break rank and hopefully racing will be at the forefront.
The Doncaster incident that never was showed the procedures are in place.The bookmakers are living off racing but have made no mention of helping out by increasing their contribution by a milimicro percentage.
The bookies did actually donate £2.6 million to the NHS after the virtual Grand National and again at Royal Ascot this year they donated their profits from the Britannia Stakes, around £3 million to the NHS and various cancer charities.
Don’t usually stick up for bookies sam but that deserved a mention and hope they will do same again for those in need within the sport for any reason, it’s a drop in the ocean for bookies but a much needed lifeline for those struggling within the industry.
Good point raised though sam as hope they will do more around Champions Day at Ascot again.
JacThings turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...Hi there.
Good points.
But they really do need to step up to the plate and I think they will if pressed.For all that it isn’t perfect at least racing does have the levy to see it through in the short term, and bookmakers have stepped in to provide sponsorship at many meeting since the return of racing.
The problem is that there are so many sports in desperate need of money at this stage. I saw newspaper stories yesterday where emergency financial support was being called for by Rugby League, Rugby Union, English Football League and National League, all of which have not only players to pay but the support staff. Presumably the likes of Ice Hockey, Speedway, Basketball and many others will be after similar support along the line.
To the loss of revenue at racecourses due to the closed doors policy on racedays must be added that lost from now-cancelled events held outwith racedays
York normally hosts regular events/meetings/beanos in its capacious stands, particularly in the winter months when a week raely passes by without at least one event
I’m sure this applies to many racecourses and is likely to be a significant source of extra income, though how ‘make or break’ important to the bottom line I wouldn’t know
The Crucible Theatre planning to re-open its doors in October and put on performances with a socially distanced, compulsory face-masked audience of 250
This is what I can’t understand – how are they allowed to do this yet the Government have banned spectators from all outdoor sporting venues 
A time of crisis – if indeed this is a time of crisis – reveals an inherent weakness in the evolution of mature western democracies from manufacturing economies into service economies: the ‘hospitality sector’ in its broadest sense
None of which is essential to maintaining a basic quality of life that would be the envy of millions in the third world. If sport, the arts, eateries, drinkeries, hotels, visitor attractions, holidays blah blah blah disappeared tomorrow life might become one dimensional but still comfortably easy-peasy
Unfortunately all these inessential diversions, which have burgeoned enormously in recent decades, employ a huge number of people and therefore are generally viewed as needing to be supported when the going gets tough, otherwise the economy will collapse
In my opinion this pandemic has only hastened the bursting of an unsustainable service/hospitality bubble which has only ballooned due to the availability of gigantic amounts of cheap credit
This is what I can’t understand – how are they allowed to do this yet the Government have banned spectators from all outdoor sporting venues 
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