Chepstow forced to accept cash as WiFi outage crashes Tote kiosks and bars

A WiFi failure across multiple buildings at Chepstow caused some cashless payment facilities to crash on Saturday, leaving some bars and betting shops closed and the track reluctantly forced to accept cash on the gate.

The racecourse, like many, operates a cashless system but was forced to do a temporary U-turn to avoid disappointed racegoers arriving and being unable to purchase tickets due to the outage.

Elsewhere, Tote kiosks in the restaurant, Premier stand and some of the boxes were forced to shut as they were unable to trade without internet access. The closure had a significant impact on turnover, with Saturday's Placepot of £54,818 almost half the size of the pot available in the last two seasons.

Chepstow also offered complimentary drinks in the owners and trainers' facility with card payments unavailable. It led to Alan King, winner of the opening race, joking: "I think it's great, we can get drinks without paying."

Issues also impacted the weighing room – situated below the owners and trainers' bar – which meant clerk of the scales Graham Ford had to call results over the phone, rather than doing so using the typical online process. RaceTech used a dongle to escape the connection woes.

A closed Britbet betting shop at Chepstow on SaturdayCredit: James Stevens

Chepstow believes the problem started at 5.30am on Saturday morning and, while a reason is unconfirmed, it is believed to be caused by either a power surge or an animal chewing through a cable. Attempts were made to rectify the problem for over three hours without success.

A crowd of over 6,000 were at the South Wales track on Saturday for one of its biggest days of the year, but the problems were not considered too detrimental to turnover on the day.

Chepstow's managing director Phil Bell said: "As people first came to the racecourse we discovered things weren't working. I'd say it was about a quarter of the racecourse that wasn't working and we tried for three hours to rectify it via other routes but we couldn't.

"One of the bars couldn't take card payments but they've moved customers across three of the marquee bars which has worked well. We had extra facilities for today because we were expecting a big crowd. In the owners and trainers' bar we've offered complimentary drinks as we appreciate their support.

"In truth it hasn't been too bad. When I first discovered it I thought it would be a wider problem. People have worked around it and we've got through it. The main thing is that racing has gone ahead without a glitch. We'll get it sorted as soon as we can."

Of whether it would cause a financial hit, Bell responded: "For the bars particularly, it hasn't cost too much as we've moved them to other areas, but the Tote yes, without a doubt. This is one of our biggest days of the year, we have 6,000 here and 850 in hospitality and the Tote isn't working in half of those areas."

Chepstow's next raceday is scheduled for November 18.

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