Can't enjoy a day at Goodwood races? Then stage it in your own home

What can you do when you’re an avid Goodwood race-goer but the annual tradition of the racecourse’s season opener is the latest sporting casualty of coronavirus?
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Easy. You stage your own version of it at home, not forgetting to invite – by video call – a couple of friends who always share the joy of a day out on the Downs with you.

That was Lorna Tiffany and John Dominick’s thinking after it became clear there’d no be season curtain raiser on the first Saturday of May this year at Goodwood – and you can’t help but admire the lengths she went to in order to enjoy an alternative afternoon at the races.

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Lorna said: “We have been members for many years and at every meeting John and I meet up with Mick and Val Aylingfor drinks and a picnic in car park two.

The parade ringThe parade ring
The parade ring

“Then we go into the Richmond stand and enjoy the racing.

“So as the first meeting of the year was called off, I had an idea and texted Mick and Val and invited them to courseside drinks and three races with four horses, Metal Mickey, Go Val Go, Loopy Lorna and Honest John.”

The fun started the day before racing.

Lorna added: “I sent them pictures of Loopy Lorna and Honest John ‘on the gallops’... then we received in return pictures of Metal Mickey and Go Val Go.

Lorna, John, Val and Mick in the Richmond StandLorna, John, Val and Mick in the Richmond Stand
Lorna, John, Val and Mick in the Richmond Stand

“It was so good to see how they both got in to the spirit of the game.

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“I made the board game on the dining room table. I used a roll of brown paper and used shoeboxes to make the Richmond stand and also put my grandson’s toys, such as horses (and other animals) and cars, and used band ornaments and also house plants for greenery.”

There was even an inspection by a stand-in clerk of the course before the action could begin.

“We started the video WhatsApp call at 1.30pm, dressed up in our fascinators and hats, and popped the corks and enjoyed pre-racing drinks and chatter,” said Lorna.

A fine Goodwood tradition - a picnic in the car parkA fine Goodwood tradition - a picnic in the car park
A fine Goodwood tradition - a picnic in the car park

“Then at 2pm the first race started. Metal Mickey threw the first dice and we set off for racing.

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“Three races later and Metal Mickey was first, Go Val Go second, so Loopy Lorna and Honest John just took a bow.

“It was a good hour spent during the lockdown and was great fun on a day when we should have been enjoying the first meeting of the season at Goodwood.”

Lorna and John, from Birdham, and Mick and Val of Littlehampton have been going to Goodwood for several years, in Lorna’s case since 1972, having been brought up in Strettington.

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