Following announcements on 17th December, Wetherby Racecourse remains under Tier 3 restrictions.
This means that, sadly, we are not able to admit spectators back to enjoy racing, including to the William Hill Yorkshire Christmas Meeting on 26th & 27th December, which is an event that many have made part of their annual Christmas tradition and which, we are certain, they will miss attending greatly.
We have been working hard on our operational plans and protocols in order to allow up to 800 spectators each day, which together with racehorse owners, would allow for a maximum crowd of approximately 1000 per day. A much reduced capacity than that which we are used to, but one that allows for safe operation and social distancing and also retains the integrity and safety of the racing participants ‘Green Zone’, which has to be kept totally separate from the spectators ‘Amber Zone’.
The operational plan established the introduction of a ‘Single Enclosure’, which encompasses areas previously designated as being either Paddock and Premier, but still allowed for access to the Parade Ring and covered race viewing, and whilst the single enclosure consists mostly of outside areas it included for some indoor shelter as well. Refreshments and hot food would have been available from mobile concession units and alcohol would have been available to purchase in designated seating areas only.
We were not able to offer hospitality or dining packages for the Christmas meeting, nor will we for our early January fixture, but we hope to start moving forward with this into the later January and February meetings, obviously all dependent on Covid restrictions at the time.
We were ‘Good to Go’ for the Christmas Meeting, and now that the plan is ready to roll out, we do not see any reason as to why this should not happen as soon as we move into Tier 2 and able to welcome spectators back on course, so watch this space!
As we all know, the vaccination programme has commenced nationally and we therefore hope that this will continue to be successfully delivered and that we will soon see a decline in Covid infection rates across the country before too much longer.
The date for the next Tier review will be at on 30th December with, we assume, announcements on 31st December. Therefore, we will update the website following those announcements with information regarding ticket sales for the meeting on Tuesday 12th January, should we be moved into Tier 2.
We would like to thank all of our racegoers for their kind messages and words of support during 2020 and take this opportunity to wish everyone a ‘Little Merry Christmas’; we look forward to welcoming you all back in a much Happier New Year!
Stay safe, and we will see you in 2021.
With kind regards from,
The Team at Wetherby Racecourse
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