St Leger will have fans on course as part of trial

Eight meetings, kicking off with Doncaster’s Pertemps St Leger Festival, are set to be staged with crowds next month as part of the UK Government’ s pilot scheme to return spectators to elite sport.

The St Leg er meeting, which runs from 9-12 September, Warwick on 21 September and Newmarket’ s Cambridgeshire Meeting from 24-26 S ep - temberw ill all permit racegoers, with Doncaster planning for a maximum of 3,640 general ad m issions on the Wednesday, rising to 6,202 on the final three days of the fixture.

The pilot events are designed to test stage five of the UK Government’s return to elite sport plan, as well as operating protocols set out by the Sports Ground Safety Authority.

The pilot events only relate to English tracks, with Scottish Racing leading discussions with Scottish Government, while a delegation led by the British Horseracing Authority and ARC has led similar discussions with the Welsh Governmen.

A previous plan to trial a crowd during Glorious Good wood had to be shelved when Government advice was updated following concern about the possibility of anew spike in Covid-19 cases.

David Armstrong said: “We are pleased to receive confirmation of our pilot events towel comeback crowds to racecourses.

“Racecourses have been working for some time to this end and we are confident the events selected will provide strong case studies which will be of use to all.

“The disappointment of postponing our last confirmed pilot at Goodwood was felt across the sport, but the learning sand behind-the-scenes work have been of great value to others. We are looking forward to once again welcoming crowds.”

Tickets for Doncaster go on sale tomorrow, with track owners Arena Racing Company imposing a new code of conduct for attendees along with additional facilities to allow racego - ers to maintain social distancing and hygiene.