Latest News

Sports

CRJC CEO Michael Beattie during the presentation of Sunday’s Yamba Cup. Image: Lynne Mowbray

Crowd capping at racing events

Lynne Mowbray|

With the evolving face of Coronavirus impacting on our way of life, the Independent asked CRJC CEO Michael Beattie about how the announcement on Sunday by Prime Minister Scott Morrison regarding a ban on public gatherings of over 500 people, would impact on the racing industry.

“Clearly the crowd capping at 500 is going to have an effect on the July Racing Carnival, if it’s in fact still in place at that time,” Mr Beattie said.

“At the moment Racing NSW will be working on a policy moving forward.

“I had a very close look at our crowd figures over the last eight years on a day to day basis and my view would be that up until Ulmarra Cup Day, we wouldn’t be in a position where we would be looking that our crowd would go over the 500 cap.

“But at the end of the day I think Racing NSW will move forward with a policy that’s not confusing to people and it may well be, that even in the next couple of days, that it is announced that racing will be at a lock out situation.

“The thing is that racing is in a unique position. It’s already had some experience in controlling an epidemic – albeit in the horse population when equine influenza hit in Australia in 2007 and Racing NSW were in the forefront of that fight. They did a wonderful job of insuring that that didn’t spread throughout the equine population with the protocols that they put in place. So at the end of the day I’m sure they are in a very good position to make the right decisions for the industry moving forward.

“Heading towards the July Racing Carnival, I think all we can do as a club is move forward under the pretence that by the time the July Racing Carnival is scheduled to be run, that the gates will be back open and it will be business as normal.

“There’s no point moving forward with anything different to that. We’re not in a position where we can do nothing and then on the 30 June someone says, ‘oh by the way, tomorrow the gates are open’. We need to prepare as though July’s going to be run as it has been run for the last 100 years and hope that by the time that it comes around, that the gates are fully open to the public, without any limits,” he said.