Without Spectators Horse Racing Faces A £300m Loss Says Racecourse Association Chief

Without Spectators Horse Racing Faces A £300m Loss Says Racecourse Association ChiefDavid Armstrong, head of the Racecourse Association, told BBC Radio Four that several hundred job losses had already been suffered throughout the sport, but that if spectators were not allowed to return for the coming race season that a loss of over £300 million could see the situation become significantly worse.

His comments come after racegoers were prevented from attending the final three days of the pilot event at Doncaster’s St Leger meeting, due to an increase in coronavirus infection rates in the local area. Officials at the racecourse said abandoning the crowd pilot would cost upwards of £250,000.

In horse racing more than half of the racecourses’ income comes from spectators, with the hospitality sections contributing a major proportion of the revenue at a meeting. Reduced revenues then affect prize money, which has a knock-on effect across the sport.

Armstrong, whose organisation represents the UK's 59 racetracks, to BBC’s Radio Four that he hopes new plans for faster Covid-19 tests announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson could offer sports a lifeline.

"Unfortunately we've seen quite significant job losses at racecourses and in other parts of the sport as well, with trainers, breeders and others - but particularly at racecourses the number of redundancies is several hundred already. We had hoped the pilot events would prove the protocols were working well and we come back to having spectators, albeit with limited capacities, from October 1st.”

He added, “New forms of tests are very important because they are, in my opinion, the key to unlocking the return of spectators on a wide scale."