'A real drag' - Welsh on-course bookies plead for clarity on spectators return

An on-course bookmaker has pleaded for clarity on when spectators can return to racecourses in Wales, fearing another summer of limited work will leave him and others in dire straits come the end of the year.

Peter Sutton has resigned himself to not working before May 30 — nearly two weeks after the planned return of spectators in England and Scotland under government Coronavirus roadmaps — which will be only the fourth time he has been able to attend a meeting since the start of December and the first time at all in 2021.

Even then, the fixture Sutton has “pencilled in” is at Fontwell as the Welsh government has yet to have give any indication of when crowds can return to sporting events. In England and Scotland spectators are set to be able to return from May 17.