Police and sniffer dogs - and booze restrictions - brought in to avert more trouble at Goodwood racing

Footage of thugs fighting – and in one case kicking a prostrate man in the head – at Goodwood on May 5 sparked an inquiry. Now the course has announced a range of measures to prevent the trouble happening again, including having police present at every race meeting.

Security staff will all wear high-visibility clothing and drug sniffer dogs will be brought in for every fixture, rather than just selected events. Any racegoer found with drugs will be ejected.

Goodwood adheres to the ‘Challenge 25’ policy in all bars and, in line with other UK racecourses, the ‘four-pint rule’ will be brought in, meaning no-one can purchase more than four pints in the retail bars. There will also be hydration stations at every bar.

Goodwood Racecourse general mamager Alex Eade said: ‘We have conducted a thorough and extensive review of everything that happened at our first fixture, of our existing policies and held a detailed consultation with our Safety Advisory Group and Sussex Police. We are part of the industry-wide crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

‘We will make our security teams more visible, we have changed some personnel and the composition of our rapid response teams as well as taking even stronger measures to discourage drug use and excessive alcohol consumption.’