Racegoers WON’T be allowed to Grand National festival next week
Bosses from the Racecourse Association had been holding talks with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport with regard to allowing racegoers into Aintree for the three-day Grand National meeting as part of a test event.
The government has subsequently decided that it is still to early for fans to attend the Grand National this year given that it comes prior to the next relaxation of the rules which comes on 12th April, just two days after the feature race in the three-day festival.
The 2021 Cheltenham Festival took place with no fans in attendance, only trainers and stable staff entitled to enter the racecourse on the four days of the meeting. It remains to be seen whether a full attendance will be permitted at the Derby and Royal Ascot during the summer or whether the crowd will be limited to 4,000 or 10,000.
The UK government is hoping that the first round of test events will be finished two weeks or more before Step Three of the planned roadmap out of lockdown takes place on 17th May. As such, another planned test event at the Boodles May Festival at Chester Racecourse on May 5th – 7th falls too late on this timescale.
Due to the strict fixture list on the racing calendar, it is looking likely that the sport is to miss out on a test event. Nevertheless racecourses are hoping that they will be designated as stadiums as opposed to outdoor venues and this would allow up to 10,000 racegoers to attend events, possibly as soon as the Epsom Derby meeting which takes on 4th and 5th June 2021.
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