Goodwood Racecourse ask the public: Stay away from Trundle Hill during the Festival

Spectators enjoying the view of Glorious Goodwood from the Trundle Hill area. Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images.

Racing behind closed doors will take place at Goodwood from tomorrow (Tuesday, July 28) until Friday, with a government pilot event of racing in front of a crowd due to happen on Saturday, August 1.

Goodwood will be the first racecourse in the country to admit spectators back to the sport, although for the pilot it will be a considerably reduced number of 5,000 compared to the usual capacity of 25,000.

With this in mind, only Goodwood Horseracing Club members have been invited to attend, as a suitable group size from a primarily local catchment area.

All places have to be pre-booked and, under the strict guidance of the pilot, there will be no additional walk-up admittance allowed on the day.

Goodwood Racecourse has been working closely with the Racecourse Association and the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to deliver each of the five days on course in accordance with Government guidelines and social distancing measures.

Considerable safety measures have been put in place, including staggered arrival times, and a complete re-distribution of the enclosures to ensure all members have appropriately space along the course.

The area will be monitored closely, and for the safety of all public the viewing spaces are closed. The right of way remains open to through traffic only, so stopping on this route is not permitted.

Jon Barnett, General Manager at Goodwood Racecourse commented: ‘While we understand the public interest around the occasion, we are discouraging use of the area during the Qatar Goodwood Festival.

‘We are all in this together and we will maximise our chances of returning to normality if we follow government guidance – sadly in our case that means we cannot accept crowds gathering on Trundle Hill.

‘We are actively encouraging people to create their own “Glorious Goodwood” experience at home, dress for the occasion and enjoy the day

‘The pilot event on the fifth day with a limited crowd marks an important step for British Racing and is part of a road map for bringing an audience back in the future, so we ask everyone to respect this and stay at home.’

Five races from each day of the ‘Glorious Goodwood’ meeting will be televised on ITV.