Talking Horses: York and Goodwood hope to fill empty stands this summer

A quick scan of the perimeter of Epsom racecourse a couple of minutes before the Derby on Saturday suggested that no more than 100 to 150 people had ignored the organisers’ pleas to stay away from the track and watch the action unfold on ITV. They were, for the most part, spread out around the perimeter of the course, pressed up against the high metal fence that entirely enclosed it, and were pretty much outnumbered by the many security guards deployed to keep the course secure.

The miserable weather probably helped to persuade would-be spectators to stay at home, but given that England’s pubs had been open from 6am for the first time in three months, on a day that is traditionally a bacchanal of fairly monstrous proportions, it seems fair to say that racing safely behind closed doors comfortably passed its first major test.

The next test comes this Thursday, when York will return to action with the highlights of its Dante meeting, normally run in May, squeezed into a single card. York, like Epsom, is built on public land and locals are used to using it for dog-walking, jogging and the like. Before the track and drainage were relaid a few years ago, in fact, there was a popular theory that the far side was a “golden highway” for front-runners because of all the joggers padding around the inside rail on non-racedays.

It is also a 15-minute walk from the middle of the city, and would have expected to draw a crowd of around 12,000 for Dante day on its traditional Thursday afternoon in May.

If the Epsom experience is any guide, York’s regular racegoers will understand the need to race behind closed doors and steer clear of the Knavesmire. But as the lockdown continues to unwind – too quickly for some, too slowly for others – and some sense of normality returns to daily life, the pressure to allow at least some racegoers back on to racecourses is only going to increase.

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One rumour suggests that Goodwood is looking at ways to get at least some of its annual members into the track for Glorious Goodwood at the end of this month. York, meanwhile, is still selling tickets for the Ebor Festival in mid-August.

“A decision on how the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival will operate is yet to be taken,” says a statement on the track’s website. “As the current legislation stands, it would be required to operate ‘behind closed doors’ so with no paying crowds.

“However, as Government continues to ease lockdown restrictions in many other aspects of our lives, there remains a possibility that the situation will change before August 19th. Given that many people are keen to still attend, we believe there is still a little period of grace before making a formal decision, as it remains our desire to welcome back supporters.”

The attendance at last year’s Ebor Festival was just over 80,000.



The attendance at last year’s Ebor Festival was just over 80,000. Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/BPI/Shutterstock

The Early Bird tickets for next month’s meeting are £60 each – refundable, of course, if they can’t be used. The attendance at last year’s Ebor Festival, meanwhile, was just over 80,000, which suggests that York will lose around £5m in ticket revenue alone if the meeting goes ahead without a crowd.

News overnight from Lone Star Park in Texas shows how difficult the path ahead might be. The track, which had been admitting racegoers – for free – at 50% capacity since mid-June, abruptly cancelled Sunday’s meeting after a racecourse employee, who had regular contact with jockeys and valets, had tested positive for Covid-19. There is no news as yet on when, or if, its racing programme will resume.

When paying spectators return to racecourses, as they must, how do you contact-trace everyone at the meeting if a single racegoer subsequently tests positive for Covid-19? If the much-vaunted – and thus far non-existent – contact-tracing app does not come up to scratch, will every racegoer be required to self-isolate? The racing programme itself is now pretty much back on track, but anything like normality still seems many months away.

Monday’s best bets, by Greg Wood

There has been plenty of money this morning for Fortamour (1.40pm) in the six-furlong handicap at Ayr this afternoon, and the 6-1 which was still available even after the useful Lord Oberon was scratched earlier today has now contracted to a top price of 7-2 with most bookies showing 3-1.

Even at the reduced price, though, Ben Haslam’s gelding has plenty to recommend him. He returned to six furlongs on turf at Ripon last week for the first time since his debut in May 2019 and produced a career-best to finish within a length of two well-handicapped rivals in a very strong time. He is up 2lb in the weights today but should still have scope for progress after just seven career starts to date.

Greg Wood’s Monday tips

Ayr 12.40 Captain Magnum 1.10 Macs Blessings 1.40 Fortamor (nap) 2.15 March Law 2.45 Stittenham Wood 3.15 Compton’s Finale 3.45 Colony Queen (nb) 4.15 Queen Mia 

Uttoxeter 12.55 Dusty’s Choice 1.25 Grey Spirit 1.55 All Good Things 2.30 Escapability 3.00 That’s A Given 3.30 Hepijeu 4.00 Jac Brown 4.30 Lord Getaway 5.05 Storm Force One

Thirsk 4.55 Lyons Lane 5.30 Mamba Wamba 6.00 Rusalka 6.30 Kingi Compton 7.00 Magnetised 7.30 Montather 8.00 Aiden’s Reward 8.30 Burguillos 9.00 Nearly There

Windsor 4.40 Caroline Dale 5.15 Yimou 5.45 Collinsbay 6.15 Who Told Jo Jo 6.45 Aquileo 7.15 Lady Magda 7.45 Decora 8.15 Heaven Forfend 8.45 Hot Summer

Colony Queen (3.45pm) has been raised only 3lb after completing a hat-trick at Beverley last time and has an obvious chance to extend her streak later on the same card while at a bigger price, Mick Easterby’s Stittenham Wood (2.45pm), is also worth a close look after a much-improved run on his handicap debut last time.

Aquileo (6.45pm) is the pick of the prices on the card at Windsor later while Burguillos (8.30pm) and Hepijeu (3.30pm) should both go well at each-way prices at Thirsk and Uttoxeter respectively.

source: theguardian.com