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RCA Will Not Mandate Covid Passes

Covid passports will not be mandated at British courses by the Racecourse Association (RCA), which has no plans to implement a policy similar to Chelmsford's which requires covid passes. At Chelmsford City, attendees will be required to show a photo ID and a covid pass to attend meetings for the remainder of the year. Wales requires proof of vaccination status or a negative test if crowds exceed a certain level, and Scotland is set to introduce a similar rule.

A statement from the Racecourse Association was released on Monday and it read, “Further to recent speculation, the RCA can confirm that there are currently no plans to introduce mandatory Covid certification at British racecourses other than in devolved nations where venues are already required to facilitate the initiative when attendances reach a certain limit.

“We remain in close contact with the appropriate departments across national governments to ensure all British racecourses are at the forefront of relevant information should the situation change.

“In the interim, the RCA will continue to follow the advice given by national governments and provide guidance to our member racecourses, allowing them to safely welcome spectators and participants.”

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Chelmsford City Implements Covid Pass

Chelmsford City Racecourse will implement a Covid pass as a condition of entry, with racegoers also required to show photo identification.

“Due to the ongoing pandemic, the racecourse has taken the decision to implement Covid passes as a condition of entry,” a statement from the track read. “We have introduced these measures in order to protect our customers, team, local community and those who participate in our sport.

“Alongside this as an additional safety measure, the racecourse will also be implementing ID as a condition of entry as well. This will be conducted by scanning photographic IDs with the following forms of ID accepted: passport, drivers licence, any government or international issue photo card. This is a decision which the racecourse has not taken lightly, but we feel that we are obligated to protect all who visit the racecourse. In order to do this we want to ensure that all persons attending are not on any lists that ban them from industry venues, sports grounds and licensed premises. The scanning of IDs upon entry has also been introduced in response to the UK raising the terror threat to severe.”

Nathan Holmes, Chelmsford's commercial director, said that the Covid pass implementation is not related to the recent discovery of new Covid strain Omicron-of which there was a nearby case-but instead something that has been in the works.

“The decision was made before the new variant came into play–it wasn't a knee-jerk reaction at all, we've had it planned for a couple of weeks,” Holmes said. “Jockeys do not have show a pass at the moment. We're still looking towards the horsemen to try to do something similar, but we're not sure how that is going to work yet as there are lots of different parties involved.

“We've spoken to racegoers about this and we've had quite a mixed reaction, particularly from older racegoers. We are inevitably going to lose some people, but at the same time we think we are going to gain some because we are creating a safe environment for people to come racing. As for how long we implement this, we have four meetings left this year. After our final meeting we then have a three-week gap. Our thinking is we've done so well in racing since coming out of lockdown, let's not spoil it. We've also got some big Christmas parties with up to 300 people coming, which this will be implemented at as well, so we'll get this period out of the way first and then review it in the three-week period and see where we are at. Hopefully then there will be better news coming from the government.”

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RCA to Work With UK Government Over New Covid-Passport Regulations

The Racecourse Association (RCA) will be working closely with the UK Government to ensure the successful rollout of the new covid pass requirement after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a full COVID-19 vaccination would be required prior to entry at “venues where large crowds gather” beginning in October of 2021. Johnson was speaking on 'Freedom Day', the date when the majority of coronavirus restrictions were eased in England. Racecourses were allowed to begin hosting unrestricted numbers of spectators on Monday.

Prime Minister Johnson said, “I should serve notice now that by the end of September, when all over 18s will have had the chance to be double jabbed, we are planning to make full vaccination the condition of entry to nightclubs and other venues where large crowds gather.

“Proof of a negative test will no longer be sufficient.”

In response, the Racecourse Association (RCA) issued the following statement: “The RCA notes today's announcement from the Prime Minister that as of Oct. 1, 2021, the Covid Pass is to be made mandatory for certain events in England.

“We welcome the fact that this inception date will allow all British adults to have the option of being double vaccinated.

“While we all sincerely hope the days of Covid restrictions are behind us, it is vital that horseracing and the wider sports/leisure economies have contingency plans to avoid commercially damaging restrictions being re-imposed but equally allow us to host safe events.

“Our immediate attention now turns to working with Government, stakeholder partners and member racecourses to understand the detail behind this plan and map out what will be a significant logistical operation.”

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