Doncaster counts cost of £250,000 hit as return of spectators lasts just one day

British racing's latest attempt to welcome spectators back to the racecourse ended in anguish on Wednesday, leaving Doncaster to count an estimated £250,000 hole in its pocket after members of the public were ruled out of returning to the track for the final three days of the St Leger festival.

The announcement came just hours after the Town Moor track welcomed racing's first paying customers in almost six months on Wednesday, with the director of public health for Doncaster instructing the course to stage racing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday behind closed doors due to a rise in the rate of Covid-19 infections in the local area.

It followed government revelations on Tuesday evening that social gatherings of more than six people are to be banned in England from Monday following a wider rise in cases of coronavirus, which immediately cast major doubt over the pilot event at Doncaster and those planned at other racecourses this month.

The next pilots scheduled at Warwick and Newmarket this month at least look likely to go ahead, with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport confirming on Wednesday evening that sports pilot events could still take place with a reduced capacity of 1,000. Prime minister Boris Johnson indicated such events would have to be "revised" when addressing the public earlier in the afternoon.

Hopes for a wider return of crowds to the track on October 1 remain uncertain, although culture secretary Oliver Dowden said he would still "plan for the best".

Mark Spincer: 'matters beyond anyone's control'

In the region of 2,500 people enjoyed the action at Doncaster on Wednesday but that figure was set to rise throughout the next three days, with a sellout crowd of 5,000 booked for Saturday's St Leger card.

"Public health made the decision after the rate at Doncaster at 8.30am this morning had gone up five-fold from yesterday, and they expect it to go higher again," said Mark Spincer, managing director of Arena Racing Company's racing division.

"They've removed the public and hospitality safety certificate so we can only race behind closed doors with owners and trainers. It's 100 per cent out of our control.

"The decision was made by Dr Suckling [director of public health for Doncaster] because it's a Doncaster decision, not a government one."

On the financial implications for Doncaster and the wider consequence for the sport, Spincer added: "We're probably a quarter of a million pounds out of pocket by this being removed, and I don't know about compensation at this stage.

"We've been working on this for months on procedures, picking up from Goodwood and York and putting in our own bits. The idea was to try to create a procedure that would be transferable to another site by testing different models. I feel really sorry for all the team – some of them have been back only a couple of weeks.

"Racing is our interest but it's also the sport as a whole. If we're not allowed to do pilots it's going to make it slower and harder to come back."

Prime minister Johnson confirmed a significant increase in restrictions after a steep rise in cases, with gatherings of more than six people banned from next week as he revealed the latest plans to combat the pandemic.

The law change will ban larger groups meeting anywhere socially indoors or outdoors and is a dramatic reduction on the limit of 30 put in place on July 4, although it will not apply to schools, workplaces or Covid-secure weddings, funerals and organised team sports.

The Racecourse Association [RCA] said it is now awaiting further details from the culture secretary on what the implications are for racing.

In a joint statement, the BHA and RCA said the industry accepted the decision taken by the director of public health to pull the plug on the Doncaster pilot, but made it clear the decision to cancel was "not a consequence of any concerns about the measures taken by Doncaster, or the racing industry’s plans to allow the public to return".

Both organisations have vowed to engage with public health authorities nationally and with the DCMS [Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport] to establish what the next steps will be regarding the pilot events at Warwick and Newmarket, as well facilitating the wider return of spectators to the racecourse.

The statement read: "Any significant delay to the return of the public will be a hammer-blow for racecourses and the racing industry. More than half of racecourses’ income comes from spectators.

"In turn, this gap in revenues will reduce the amount of prize-money available to participants and owners. This puts even greater pressure on our trainers, whose yards are the lifeblood of rural economies across the UK."

David Armstrong: very disappointed by developmentsCredit: Edward Whitaker

David Armstrong, chief executive of the RCA, added: “The RCA and all in racing will be very disappointed by today’s developments. We all know how important these pilots are to securing the return of crowds. The racecourse teams and the RCA have put in many hours of detailed work and planning to ensure the protocols are comprehensive and robust.

"As the second biggest spectator sport in the country, we pride ourselves on the quality of our sport and the entertainment it brings to so many. The health of the public and our own staff and participants is paramount, but the economic and financial pressure on the industry has already cost jobs, and more will follow."

He added: "We will continue to work together as an industry, with national governments and with local authorities and the communities they represent to secure a safe return to public events."

Concern within government was prompted by figures on Sunday showing there had been 2,988 new infections in the previous 24 hours, the highest daily rate since May 22.

A further 2,659 new cases and eight deaths were reported in the UK on Wednesday.

It is the second time in as many months British racing has had to cancel a pilot event involving customers. Plans for the final day of Glorious Goodwood were scrapped a day before the event, owing to a rise in coronavirus cases.

Members can also read the following stories . . .

How catastrophic news turned a day of celebration into a day of despair

Attendance for next pilot events capped at 1,000 but Warwick chief remains keen

Lee Mottershead: immense frustration reflects fact that racing needs spectators back so badly

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