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06 Oct 20
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RP
5:53PM, OCT 6 2020
Prime minister Boris Johnson's call for the public to attend cinemas against the backdrop of sport taking place behind closed doors has been heavily criticised by Royal Ascot-winning owner and Scunthorpe United chairman Peter Swann.
Johnson this week encouraged people to return to cinemas following the disclosure that Cineworld was temporarily closing its premises.
The news that O2 and Royal Albert Hall will soon reopen for indoor concerts has led to some dismay in the sporting world following last month's announcement sporting crowds might not return until March.
Swann, who won the Norfolk Stakes at the 2016 royal meeting with Prince Of Lir and enjoyed top-level success with Sands Of Mali in Ascot's British Champions Sprint Stakes two years later, feels the twin pain of empty football grounds and racecourses via racing.
"It's horrendous," he said when asked about Johnson's comments. "We all know how safe racing is and what a good job has been done – it's fantastic.
"I think I saw a cinema had live football. How can that be right? If I can open a restaurant and put up plastic panels and keep everyone apart in a one-way system why can't racecourses? It's ridiculous – it's outside. I was watching a meeting at Musselburgh and people were watching it on the road outside.
"Racecourses have a huge amount of space and there is absolutely no reason tracks can't get 3,000 or 4,000. While there's nothing else going on, what an advantage that would be, to get people going. Maybe it's the travel they're worried about, but you could keep it to postcodes and a certain radius."
Swann, whose horses run under the Cool Silk Partnership, which includes his wife Karin, mother-in-law Barbara Wilkinson and sons Christopher and William, fears some tracks may close and potential fans could be lost.
"I remember 30 or 40 years ago when my wife and I were first together, we'd travel the country and go to a Newton Abbot and an Exeter – we just loved going to the races," he said. "And a lot of people still love to. It is worrying we might lose some of those smaller tracks.
"I wouldn't have thought they'd be putting on events or Christmas parties or conferences, which is how they can make their money, so employment could go down."
The Nottingham-based businessman added: "I think it's frustrating when you see the Albert Hall and O2 will have people in, and you imagine all those people travelling through London.
"I imagine that will be more compact than anyone travelling across Scunthorpe, because we're only talking about home fans at the moment. To be told we've probably got no chance until the new year of getting crowds is devastating for football clubs.
"We've got a 9,500-capacity stadium and we only get 3,000-3,500 home fans. We believe we can do that safely, but even if it was 2,000 it would help and leave us with less money to find from the Premier League and government.
"As owners, we've been asked to run our football clubs on the back of there being a rescue package and nothing has happened – it must be ten weeks since that was said. It's a nightmare for us not to have crowds back in – for an outdoor event – but it's frustrating I can put an outdoor cinema or car-boot sale on in the car park.
"I did write to the government but I've heard nothing back. I just hope they keep reviewing it and give all sports, particularly the outdoor ones, an opportunity to get some finances in. That's how the economy will move.
"Football and racing are two key sports in our country with hundreds of years of history. Clubs and racecourses are part of the communities and it'll be a disaster if some disappear."
Grand National-winning trainer Donald McCain was also perplexed by Johnson's call, saying: "It doesn't seem to make an awful lot of sense, truthfully. There are very few safer places I'd say than a racecourse.
"I'd be concerned about getting owners back properly first. Crowds are good for the racecourses, but the owners are the show who put everything on and you'd get a fair old crowd if you got the owners back and looked after properly. But regarding that [people going to the cinema], it doesn't make sense - anybody can see that."
McCain, who won the National with Ballabriggs in 2011, was sympathetic about how racing was going about the return of racegoers.
He said: "The politics side of it I don't particularly understand and we all find it frustrating the way things are, but I do understand there are occasions when, if things change, we could have got stopped again, so I understand why it's done like that."
Around the world
Many sports fans in Britain have become frustrated with not being able to attend a match or fixture, but the situation is far worse in Ireland following the news this week the country was moving to a lockdown level that prohibits owners from attending meetings – let alone racegoers.
Things appeared brighter in France – Europe's third major racing nation – when it was announced in June that from July 11 the paying public, up to a limit of 5,000, could return to racecourses, although Sunday's Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe went ahead in front of only 1,000 spectators after coronavirus spikes across the Channel.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club, which cut numbers on track as early as February, relaxed restrictions in May and last month received the green light from government for crowds to return, which was ahead of the regulatory body's mid-October date.
Japan, the sport's other superpower in the Far East, went behind closed doors in February and announced an extension of that policy in August, but is due to welcome the public from Saturday.
In the US, the majority of big-time racing has gone ahead without fans and that is the case for next month's Breeders' Cup at Keeneland, while there are plans, should officials allow, for a small number at the Lexus Melbourne Cup meeting at Flemington in Australia on November 3.
5:53PM, OCT 6 2020
Prime minister Boris Johnson's call for the public to attend cinemas against the backdrop of sport taking place behind closed doors has been heavily criticised by Royal Ascot-winning owner and Scunthorpe United chairman Peter Swann.
Johnson this week encouraged people to return to cinemas following the disclosure that Cineworld was temporarily closing its premises.
The news that O2 and Royal Albert Hall will soon reopen for indoor concerts has led to some dismay in the sporting world following last month's announcement sporting crowds might not return until March.
Swann, who won the Norfolk Stakes at the 2016 royal meeting with Prince Of Lir and enjoyed top-level success with Sands Of Mali in Ascot's British Champions Sprint Stakes two years later, feels the twin pain of empty football grounds and racecourses via racing.
"It's horrendous," he said when asked about Johnson's comments. "We all know how safe racing is and what a good job has been done – it's fantastic.
"I think I saw a cinema had live football. How can that be right? If I can open a restaurant and put up plastic panels and keep everyone apart in a one-way system why can't racecourses? It's ridiculous – it's outside. I was watching a meeting at Musselburgh and people were watching it on the road outside.
"Racecourses have a huge amount of space and there is absolutely no reason tracks can't get 3,000 or 4,000. While there's nothing else going on, what an advantage that would be, to get people going. Maybe it's the travel they're worried about, but you could keep it to postcodes and a certain radius."
Swann, whose horses run under the Cool Silk Partnership, which includes his wife Karin, mother-in-law Barbara Wilkinson and sons Christopher and William, fears some tracks may close and potential fans could be lost.
"I remember 30 or 40 years ago when my wife and I were first together, we'd travel the country and go to a Newton Abbot and an Exeter – we just loved going to the races," he said. "And a lot of people still love to. It is worrying we might lose some of those smaller tracks.
"I wouldn't have thought they'd be putting on events or Christmas parties or conferences, which is how they can make their money, so employment could go down."
The Nottingham-based businessman added: "I think it's frustrating when you see the Albert Hall and O2 will have people in, and you imagine all those people travelling through London.
"I imagine that will be more compact than anyone travelling across Scunthorpe, because we're only talking about home fans at the moment. To be told we've probably got no chance until the new year of getting crowds is devastating for football clubs.
"We've got a 9,500-capacity stadium and we only get 3,000-3,500 home fans. We believe we can do that safely, but even if it was 2,000 it would help and leave us with less money to find from the Premier League and government.
"As owners, we've been asked to run our football clubs on the back of there being a rescue package and nothing has happened – it must be ten weeks since that was said. It's a nightmare for us not to have crowds back in – for an outdoor event – but it's frustrating I can put an outdoor cinema or car-boot sale on in the car park.
"I did write to the government but I've heard nothing back. I just hope they keep reviewing it and give all sports, particularly the outdoor ones, an opportunity to get some finances in. That's how the economy will move.
"Football and racing are two key sports in our country with hundreds of years of history. Clubs and racecourses are part of the communities and it'll be a disaster if some disappear."
Grand National-winning trainer Donald McCain was also perplexed by Johnson's call, saying: "It doesn't seem to make an awful lot of sense, truthfully. There are very few safer places I'd say than a racecourse.
"I'd be concerned about getting owners back properly first. Crowds are good for the racecourses, but the owners are the show who put everything on and you'd get a fair old crowd if you got the owners back and looked after properly. But regarding that [people going to the cinema], it doesn't make sense - anybody can see that."
McCain, who won the National with Ballabriggs in 2011, was sympathetic about how racing was going about the return of racegoers.
He said: "The politics side of it I don't particularly understand and we all find it frustrating the way things are, but I do understand there are occasions when, if things change, we could have got stopped again, so I understand why it's done like that."
Around the world
Many sports fans in Britain have become frustrated with not being able to attend a match or fixture, but the situation is far worse in Ireland following the news this week the country was moving to a lockdown level that prohibits owners from attending meetings – let alone racegoers.
Things appeared brighter in France – Europe's third major racing nation – when it was announced in June that from July 11 the paying public, up to a limit of 5,000, could return to racecourses, although Sunday's Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe went ahead in front of only 1,000 spectators after coronavirus spikes across the Channel.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club, which cut numbers on track as early as February, relaxed restrictions in May and last month received the green light from government for crowds to return, which was ahead of the regulatory body's mid-October date.
Japan, the sport's other superpower in the Far East, went behind closed doors in February and announced an extension of that policy in August, but is due to welcome the public from Saturday.
In the US, the majority of big-time racing has gone ahead without fans and that is the case for next month's Breeders' Cup at Keeneland, while there are plans, should officials allow, for a small number at the Lexus Melbourne Cup meeting at Flemington in Australia on November 3.
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What's he qualified for?
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Johnson is a qualified disaster
RP 1 of 1 UPDATED 4:12PM, OCT 6 2020 One can only wonder what British racing's leadership – and indeed that of all elite sports – thought of the comments made on Monday by prime minister Boris Johnson regarding people going to cinemas. Johnson urged people to head to the pictures following the news the Cineworld chain was closing 127 outlets in the UK and putting 5,000 jobs at risk due to the lack of blockbuster films being released, the delay of the latest James Bond film being the final straw. "I'd encourage people to go out to the cinema, enjoy themselves and support those businesses," Johnson said. For those racecourses who are desperate for people to attend, enjoy themselves and support the business they are running, Johnson's comments must have come as a kick in the teeth given plans to allow the limited return of spectators were postponed last month due to the increase in coronavirus cases. They would have been especially painful for Arena Racing Company given the £250,000 loss it suffered when the pilot for the return of spectators at the St Leger meeting was halted after just one day. As yet there is no evidence that either the one day of racing which did take place at Doncaster, or the pilot at Warwick later in the month, have led to any cases of transmission of the virus. Yet race meetings, just as with football, rugby and other outdoor sports, are taking place without spectators while people are being encouraged to sit in an enclosed space watching a film for a couple of hours. In addition, news has emerged that audiences of 4,700 are being planned for the O2 Arena in London from December and concerts are also being scheduled for the Royal Albert Hall that month. As used to be said at the start of every episode of the vintage US comedy Soap: "Confused? You will be." That confusion is turning into mounting frustration among sporting bodies and racing will not be alone in having voiced that to ministers. The fact people can visit bars and restaurants at tracks on days when racing is not taking place but cannot go to the racecourse when a meeting is happening is an additional source of aggravation for the sport. Action to remedy that anomaly will have been named as one of the swiftest actions the government can take to help racing in the sport's submission following government request for information about the financial impact of the absence of crowds. However, racing and other sports look to have fallen victim to the 'optics' of the current situation, with one of the arguments against the return of spectators appearing to be that allowing large crowds to attend sports events might not look good at a time when the number of guests at a wedding and mourners at a funeral are being capped. Not that the messages being provided by the government are particularly consistent, as illustrated by this week's big-screen exhortation. The fact ministers are aware of the pressure racing is under in the absence of spectators was made evident in the Commons last week when the sport appeared to have rallied its supporters in parliament. Racing was mentioned four times in questions to sports minister Nigel Huddleston, who assured Laurence Robertson MP, whose Tewkesbury constituency includes Cheltenham, that the government was talking to the BHA and others and that "we will do what we can to support the racing sector". Racing is involved in the Sports Technology and Innovation Group launched by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to find technological solutions which can help the return of spectators at elite sport events. Making it compulsory for fans to download the NHS track and trace app in order for them to attend sports events has been mentioned as one way of using technology to get crowds back. In the meantime, British racing has to ensure it maintains its hitherto excellent record for staging action without adding to case numbers, not only to help persuade government to allow at least a limited return of spectators but also to make sure nothing jeopardises racing continuing behind closed doors. |
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The RP are going for this
Courses stress 'inconsistencies' to government in bid to get fans back on track Racecourses have been severely impacted by the absence of spectators By Jonathan Harding 7:40PM, OCT 6 2020 British racecourses have written directly to the government to highlight inconsistencies in its approach to the return of crowds to live events as frustration mounts over the ongoing absence of spectators from grandstands. Prime minister Boris Johnson has recently encouraged people to return to cinemas and, earlier this month, the O2 Arena announced 4,700 people will attend a concert in December, while the Royal Albert Hall is expected to welcome audiences of up to 2,500 back this Christmas. The performing arts moved to stage four on the government road map in August, meaning reduced audiences are allowed indoors and outdoors, but elite sporting events are not permitted to have crowds after their provisional return on October 1 was put on hold. Frustration among elite sports administrators has been growing since then as policy inconsistencies have grown more glaring and the government has failed to outline a roadmap for the eventual return of spectators. Royal Ascot-winning owner and Scunthorpe United chairman Peter Swann on Tuesday declared the current rules "ridiculous", while Grand National-winning trainer Donald McCain said government policy "doesn't make sense". BHA chair Annamarie Phelps also said the sport had provided government an assessment of the impact of Covid-19 on racing's finances, arguing for the reform of the levy and "making clear the return of the public to racecourses is essential". David Armstrong, chief executive of the Racecourse Association (RCA), confirmed his organisation had written to government to highlight inconsistencies in current guidelines, but stressed his organisation and its members remained understanding of the difficult decisions facing MPs. "We have written to the government from time to time but to be fair it's already aware [of the inconsistencies]," said Armstrong. "There's reasoning behind the decisions and it rests on the treatment of racing as an elite sport. "The collective thinking for sport was focused on maintaining behind-closed-doors environments. It meant there was a greater concern around the return of crowds than there might be with a theatre. "The priority is protecting the athletes within that environment, which is why you end up with different rules for hospitality and sport. That's why we came back a month earlier than pubs and restaurants." Racing staged two successful pilot events at Doncaster and Warwick before the scheme was scratched last month but Armstrong believes the sport remains in a good position to allow spectators to return. "Every sport is in the same boat," added Armstrong. "There are aspects of racing that provide greater safety for spectators, such as it being outdoors, but there are other aspects, including the mobility of racegoers around the racecourse, that work against us too. "There's a feeling shared by all sports of wanting to get back on the front foot and several other representatives have said they feel racing has the most compelling case to get crowds back first." Crowds could be absent from racecourses for up to six months and, as well as working with the government to accelerate their return, Armstrong is also focused on protecting behind-closed-doors racing. "We're always vulnerable to increases in the number of coronavirus cases but at the moment our protocols are holding up well. If more lockdowns were announced I think it would be likely cinemas and theatres might close but racing would be allowed to carry on. "We've put forward the argument that attending a racecourse under the protocols is entirely safe. We need to make sure we protect what we've got too and can continue to race behind closed doors." There is mounting concern among racecourses about the financial cost of the ongoing absence of spectators with tracks expected to lose £250 to £300 million of revenues this year without crowds. "We were getting ready to restart all areas of the business from the October but we're now facing the prospect of a full year without paying customers," said Newbury marketing director Harriet Collins. "It's both challenging and frustrating. While we understand the reasons, we feel confident we can provide a safe environment for our customers to return to, especially when compared to some other venues and leisure activities that have been allowed to resume." The track, which stages a number of jump meetings in the coming months, has welcomed more than 3,000 people across a number of weekends to watch racing on a big screen since the start of July. "We had socially distanced seating and it was positively received," Collins added. "We had members visit us who had not ventured to pubs and restaurants but felt safe coming back to a racecourse." It is understood the government has been made aware by industry leaders that racing's crisis will deepen considerably by the spring if spectators do not return. At a meeting of racing's Members Committee last week, the BHA and industry leaders agreed to set up a new steering group to assess all the options for levy reform in light of the coronavirus pandemic. It will be chaired by BHA independent director Joe Saumarez-Smith and include representatives from both racecourses and horsemen. It meets this week and will carry out a rapid assessment of levy options before presenting its recommendations to government as part of a drive to present a united approach in dealings with politicians. "We have sent the government at their request a new assessment of the impact of Covid-19 on racing's finances, including the potential mitigating impact of reform to the levy, and making clear the return of the public to racecourses is essential," said Phelps. "It's vital we work through the appropriate channels, recognising racing's close relationship with the betting industry. Pursuing alternative routes risks dividing racing into competing factions." Coronavirus confusion Those who enjoy a day at the races might look at the government's coronavirus guidelines with some confusion given nothing is stopping them meeting five people from different households and going to a pub to watch the racing. They can also go to a restaurant, bowling alley, casino, theme park and amusement arcade, while cinemas, theatres and concert halls are other options and have extended opening times if performances start before 10pm. Indeed, prime minister Boris Johnson's view this week that he would "encourage people to go out to the cinema, enjoy themselves and support" them might have seemed an inconsistent approach given the restrictions he placed on sporting events having attendances last month. Indoor gyms also remain open should anyone want to attempt any of Battaash's speed records and if you do not want to run to the gym you are free to use public transport. Not all exercise is permitted, however, and "you should only be playing outdoor team sports and partaking in outdoor physical activity where the relevant governing body has published guidance on how to do so safely, and you can play outdoors". Weddings and civil partnerships can take place with up to 15 people, while 30 can attend a funeral. James Burn |
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Barmy!!!!!!!
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Johnson is totally barking, he just makes things up off the cuff without any thought of the consequences.
He's so far out of his depth dealing with this, that it's a surprise to see him in public without a wet suit, snorkel and oxygen tank. |
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He's so far out of his depth dealing with this, that it's a surprise to see him in public without a wet suit, snorkel and oxygen tank. you're thinking of mr benn
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Very well said Alan..it is almost unbelievable that we are led by such incompetent fools.
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chepstow racecourse , no one allowed to racing , yet everyone welcomed to their car boot sales
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restaurants getting plenty of help including eat out to help out,so good many are carrying it on without the help of goverment,yet still they beg for more help.racecourses not allowed to just help themselves nobody seems to be doing to much to change that situation,to many from the racing press are to comfortable with whats going on they are still able to go so no lobbying from that sector ,even bookmakers reps are allowed in racecourses from the online and high street firms ,pretty sure they will not calling for the return of paying customers.the gravy train seems to have more carriages than ever at the moment.
how on earth can some of these bluffers be allowed to go racing when life long racing fans who just want to pay for a days racing or annual members are not allowed ? |
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Football , horse racing and other sports have followed guidelines and not rocked the boat .....and for what.
They should stop playing nice and launch powerful media campaigns as there is no way on this planet that up to 50% in an an auditorium is safer than 10,000 at Old Trafford or Wembley or 5,000 at Ascot. Surely some high profile owners , trainers etc could embarrass the hapless sport hating government. |
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Boris Johnson's call for the public to attend cinemas
nobody was allowed to go to the snooker. is the risk linked to what you're going to see ? James Bond - low, snooker - high. |
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Doesn't James Bond work for the government
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Anyone that voted for them has no right to complain. It's not like he was hiding his complete lack of suitability for the job.
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I voted for him, what alternate did the public have please?
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I voted lib dem, the lesser of three evils. If enough people had voted lib dem he would not have an 80 seat majority
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