Racing behind closed doors is a challenge, but it’s one we’ve met
After a long period out of action, racing is back – albeit behind closed doors. And Goodwood clerk of the course Ed Arkell couldn’t be happier about it, while admitting it has been a real challenge.
“It’s very good to be back up and running again - it’s a very odd, and a rather eery situation to be in,” he said.
“At Goodwood there’s been a huge amount of work – particularly from Sarah Bullen, operations manager, who has done a phenomenal amount of work behind the scenes and on the planning.
“All sorts of things; like creating two-metre wide booths for jockeys in the changing rooms so they were appropriately distanced, all the one-way systems through the weighing room and all the various equine areas – the same down in the stables.
“We still have to do everything we would do on a raceday – but by following government and British Horseracing Authority guide-lines. You can’t use very many of the washdown areas because of the risk of spray contamination, you’re wearing face masks, disinfecting all the saddling boxes between each race, all the starting stalls, water buckets – where the lads might have picked a water bucket up to wash a horse down. Everything had to be disinfected between races.
“We had no horses coming into the winner’s enclosure – we brought the winning horse to a position in the parade ring where usually the fourth-placed horse would go to. It just gave everybody more space.
“Everybody who came on site had to have done the BHA online training, then 72 hours before, everybody had to send in who was coming; from trainer or representative, to which lads were coming and the racecourse had to say which staff were coming and then BHA sent a health questionnaire to everybody on the list – which you had to fill in and send back.” Read more at chichester.co.uk