Glorious Goodwood tickets on sale amid hopes of big summer sporting crowds

Tickets for the Qatar Goodwood Festival (July 27-31) are now on sale to the general public.
Battaash wins the King Geroge Stakes in 2020 in front of empty stands - and now it looks like his next Goodwood visit will be in front of a big crowd / Picture: Getty, Alan CrowhurstBattaash wins the King Geroge Stakes in 2020 in front of empty stands - and now it looks like his next Goodwood visit will be in front of a big crowd / Picture: Getty, Alan Crowhurst
Battaash wins the King Geroge Stakes in 2020 in front of empty stands - and now it looks like his next Goodwood visit will be in front of a big crowd / Picture: Getty, Alan Crowhurst

Glorious Goodwood and York's Ebor flat-racing festival are set to be among the first major horse racing fixtures to welcome racegoers back under the government’s roadmap for relaxing the existing lockdown, which was published in February.

Last year the whole of Glorious Goodwood was held behind closed doors - with hopes of a 5,000 crowd on the final day in a test event for crowds returning to major sport events being dashed by a last-minute government U-turn.

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This year. hopes are high that something like a full crowd may be allowed.

Goodwood and York are working together to put plans in place to welcome racegoers back to their festivals.

The picturesque South Downs will be the venue for some classic races, which will include Battaash’s bid for a fifth King George Stakes and, perhaps, a bid by Stradivarius to win the Goodwood Cup for the fifth time.

Adam Waterworth, MD of Goodwood Racecourse, said, “We are delighted at the prospect of welcoming members and the wider general public back to these two key racing festivals this summer. Everyone has been incredibly supportive through very challenging times, and these fixtures will bring people back together to witness this sport back at its best.”

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William Derby, Clerk of the Course and Chief Executive at York Racecourse said: “Racegoers have been starved of live racing action for over a year now, and this is something for all our fans to look forward to. Being large open-air venues, we have the space and capacity to make sure everyone feels happy about being back .

"We can’t wait to join racegoers in seeing top-class racing action, sharing those moments and experiences that can return, with the hoped-for easing of protocols.”

Admission will also be released for the other racedays scheduled to be in 'step four' of the phased easing of the national lockdown. This includes the John Smith’s Cup meeting at York (July 9 - 10) and the August Bank Holiday meeting at Goodwood Racecourse (August 27 - 29).

Goodwood and York Racecourse are keen to stress that all bookings will come with both a money-back guarantee and the assurance that the venues will observe whatever Covid-19 measures are expected at the time of the racedays.

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A full Code of Conduct and guide to the experience will be sent to racegoers nearer to their attendance date.

* Admission tickets for Glorious Goodwood are available to purchase online at www.goodwood.com/horseracing or by calling the Goodwood Ticket Office on 01243 75055