Chester Plans to Host Racegoers if Restrictions Ease

Chester has a "bulletproof" plan to host up to 5,000 racegoers on each day of the popular May meeting, confident officials revealed Feb. 15—a week before prime minister Boris Johnson is expected to outline his roadmap for easing lockdown restrictions.

The sport has largely taken place behind closed doors during the coronavirus pandemic, but that model is not sustainable at Chester, which derives 80% of its income from a paying crowd and in September warned its entire business could be mothballed for 2021 if racegoers did not return.

However, the United Kingdom government's successful rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine has increased optimism that some sort of normality will return this summer, which Chester is keen to capitalize on, announcing bold plans for rapid mass testing of spectators for its three-day showpiece fixture on May 5-7.

Richard Thomas, chief executive of the company that owns and manages the track, said: "If we knew today that we weren't going to be racing with a crowd at all in 2021 we'd be making different decisions, but as things stand now you'd hope the country would start to open up slowly and there'll be the possibility of a crowd, so we've got our team ready and preparing.

"We've got a plan to start racing as quickly as government will allow and if, for example, they opened outdoor hospitality in pub gardens and the like, then please don't treat racing any differently because it's an outdoor sport and we're going to commit to testing everybody if that is what government wants us to do."

Mass testing could take place at three separate sites, which will allow for 1,800 tests to be carried out per hour and Thomas believes his team has a formula that will be successful.

"It's an ambitious plan and May might come too soon, but it would be remiss if we didn't have it organized," he added. "We've been working on it for a long time and we've been lateral-flow testing our staff twice a week for the last 12 weeks, and formulating a plan of how we can be ready if the opportunity arises. 

"Our plan is fairly bulletproof in that we know we can do it and the lateral-flow testing works because we've been using it. We've worked out how to do it efficiently and we've invested nearly £1 million in facilities so we've got two more areas with covers, albeit they're open to the elements.

"We knew our crowds would be diminished, we'd expect 20,000 a day in May, but this is the next best thing. It's sustainable, absolutely and if we have to do it that way all season we will. We hope we don't as vaccinations kick in, and we've got to start somewhere and engage with government."

Chester opened a vaccine center Monday and Thomas said the National Health Service and local authorities had been helpful in regard to the ambitious aim, while investment in making the site compliant with regulations was worth exploring.

"It's going to cost us money testing everybody, but we're happy to absorb that because we want to lead the way and have people back," he added.

"It's more profitable than racing behind closed doors—80% of our income comes from crowds, so while this costs us money, it doesn't cost anything like people not coming racing. We'll make a huge amount less, but that's the way it is and it's a case of starting small and working our way up, while we can't keep going to the Levy Board and other bodies saying, 'Please pay for this.'

"The courses have got to get up and get on, and if we can help with that, it's the right way to do it. This starts to open things up and get us back to normal when everyone has been vaccinated.

"The Chester May meeting is vital for the local community. We lost it last year and the previous time was in the war, so we don't want to be losing it again."