NO CROWD COULD COST DONCASTER £250K

OFFICIALS at Doncaster estimated yesterday that pulling the plug on a small crowd being allowed back into the course for the final three days of the St Leger meeting would cost them £250,000. But that is sure to be a fraction of the cost to the racing industry as a whole if there is a lengthy delay in the return of paying crowds. Big meetings which had hoped to welcome spectators before the end of the year include Future Champions Day at Newmarket and Champions Day at Ascot next month, the three-day November fixture at Cheltenham and the King George meeting at Kempton on Boxing Day. Jockey Club officials said last night that pilot events at Warwick on September 21 and Newmarket on September 24-26 were still supported by the Government, but with capacity for only 1,000 spectators. Further talks will take place with local health authorities. Britain’s 59 tracks were losing £8million a month while the sport was locked down and have still been losing £4m while they race behind closed doors. Average revenue from racegoers is 47 per cent of overall course income and that rises to around 60 per cent for the bigger tracks with larger crowds and meatier hospitality spend. At least in the short term no track is in danger of closing, but the pandemic is slowly strangling the sport. When the BHA, Racehorse Owners Association and the Horsemen’s Group published its Recovery Plan for British Racing last week, it set out goals with the caveat: racecourse revenues will not get back to normal until there is a return to full crowds. A joint statement from the BHA and RCA yesterday read: ‘Any significant delay to the return of the public will be a hammer-blow for racecourses and the racing industry.’ A crowd of 5,000 had been expected for the St Leger on Saturday. The decision to cancel the pilot was taken by Doncaster Borough Council against a backdrop of rising local infection rates.