Glorious Goodwood's 5,000 crowd test: Members backed to make it a success

But this year, the festival will attract more attention than ever before as it is being used as a test for crowds being allowed back into major sporting events – a plan exclusively revealed here last week.

A crowd of 5,000 racecourse members and guests will be admitted to the final day of next week’s Qatar Goodwood Festival –Saturday, August 1 – to see the Stewards’ Cup and a host of other top-class flat racing.

And Goodwood sport MD Adam Waterworth is backing staff and members to make it a success.

The first four days of the Qatar Goodwood Festival will be run before closed doors but five races per day will shown live on ITV Racing.

Goodwood’s selection as part of the government’s efforts to get elite sport back to normal is a massive coup for the venue and follows heavy lobbying by racecourse bosses and the British Horseracing Authority.

It is an important step forward in the sporting economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Waterworth said: “We are delighted that the Qatar Goodwood Festival has been selected as a pilot event for the return of crowds. It marks an important day for the sports industry following a few challenging months.

“Our annual members have continued to support us throughout the lockdown, for which we are enormously grateful. It is therefore fantastic to offer them the opportunity to witness racing on the Downs again.

“The Goodwood team will ensure the racecourse adheres to government guidelines on social distancing and hygiene. We hope this will be the next step in ensuring crowds for future sporting events.”

Waterworth said setting up the day for 5,000 had been a challenge – and in many ways, arranging to admit 5,000 for one day was tougher than the usual organisation for 100,000 to come in over the week. “The team have had to work on Plans A to Z and until last Friday we didn’t know what we were going to be presented with.

“I think one of the reasons we’ve been selected is because of our membership. We are dealing with people we know and who know us and know the racecourse and we’ve every reason to believe they will adhere to the rules and make this work.”

Goodwood staged two behind-closed-doors fixtures in mid-June which proved they could hold racing while sticking to social distancing and other Covid-19 protocols.

The day will feature new safety rules developed by DCMS, the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA) and racing bosses. The safety of all participants and racegoers is top priority.

Goodwood staff have been busy liaising with members to work out who can be accommodated and where.

All racegoers attending must agree in advance to follow a code of conduct. It sets out expectations on the behaviour and actions of everyone to maintain hygiene levels and social distancing, as well as outlining facilities and initiatives put in place.

Afterwards, an industry group will hold a thorough debrief to assess which measures worked well and which require refinement.

David Armstrong, Race-course Association chief executive and chair of the ‘welcoming crowds’ industry group, said: “We welcome the fact horse-racing is one of the pilot events to welcome back crowds and my team and I acknowledge the great responsibility upon us.”

Before Saturday, there’s four days of festival action race fans can watch from home and Waterworth said it was set to be a stunning week.

Super-stayer Stradivarius is confirmed for Tuesday’s Goodwood Cup, which he will be bidding to win for a record fourth straight time. The Sussex Stakes, on Wednesday, is a heavyweight battle involving Kameko, Siskin and Mohaather.

There’s the Group 1 Nassau Stakes on Thursday and Battaash’s bid for a fourth straight King George Stakes on Friday. Waterworth said: “I think if Battaash wins, that is the moment we will most miss having a crowd.”

See a preview of Glorious Goodwood in today's (Jul 23) Chichester Observer series