Arena Racing Company

After around 2,500 spectators were admitted on the opening day of Doncaster's St Leger Festival on Wednesday as part of a pilot project for reintroducing fans to sporting events, the remainder of the festival will be behind closed doors with Prime Minister Boris Johnson once again limiting gathers to six people. The directive came from the Doncaster Council. A crowd of about 6,000 had been expected for the G1 St Leger on Saturday. "We have had confirmation this afternoon from the local authority that we will not be able to...

The British Horseracing Authority and Arena Racing Company have made the joint decision to suspend jumps racing at Southwell until further notice after two further fatalities occurred at Thursday evening's fixture. There have been six fatalities at the track between July 1 and Aug. 24 and a process is already underway to investigate them. Brant Dunshea, chief regulatory officer at the BHA, said, "The BHA and ARC met earlier this week and agreed a series of immediate measures which were put in place for this evening's meeting. The course was...

The Pertemps St Leger Festival at Doncaster is one of eight meetings that will be staged with crowds as part of stage five of the UK government's plan to return spectators to elite sport, the Racecourse Association announced on Wednesday. Doncaster's four-day Classic meeting from Sept. 9-12, a Sept. 21 Warwick fixture, and Newmarket's Cambridgeshire Meeting from Sept. 24-26 have all been greenlit to allow racegoers in limited fashion. In Doncaster's case, a maximum of 3,640 spectators will be allowed on the first day, increasing to 6,202 for the final...

Arena Racing Company tracks could be at the forefront of a return to racing in Britain when the time comes for the sport to resume following its suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic. Any resumption will be behind closed doors on the Flat, but only when Government advice permits, a point British Horseracing Authority chief executive Nick Rust has again reiterated. Should there be a heavily quarantined reintroduction, two of Arena's all-weather tracks are likely to have the facilities required to host such a scenario-Lingfield and Newcastle. Martin Cruddace, chief...

As the coronavirus outbreak worsens, UK racing's leadership, including racecourses, participants and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), will meet on Monday to discuss the sport's coronavirus plan going forward. In the immediate future, race meetings will likely be held without spectators through at least the end of March and the UK fixture list will also be under discussion. The goal of the meeting is to agree on a programme that is sustainable in the light of possible staff absences, including in critical roles, while protecting the industry's workforce and freeing...

Bradley Hunt and Alex Slade have been appointed to the roles of Chief Finance Officer and General Counsel, respectively, of the Arena Racing Company (ARC), the company announced on Monday. Both are new roles within ARC, and form part of the senior management team. They will answer to ARC Chief Executive Martin Cruddace and the ARC Board. Hunt, previously with Collinson Group as a finance director, has also worked in the past for Cinime, Pias Entertainment Group and Rapp Ltd. He will oversee all financial affairs of the company and...