A very warm welcome back to all racegoers - now let's look forward together

On behalf of the Racecourse Association and its members, it is a pleasure to write this column for the Racing Post on what is a very significant day for British horseracing.

When it was confirmed privately to the RCA and BHA by DCMS that the May 17 date in the roadmap was going ahead as planned, one could be forgiven for not taking anything for granted. Throughout the recovery from the pandemic, the sport has experienced undoubted highs, such as being the first major sport to return behind closed doors at Newcastle on June 1, but also sickening lows, including large-scale pilot events being cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice at Goodwood and Doncaster.

Racegoers were last able to return to the course in December in limited numbersCredit: Edward Whitaker

Our work in the last year has been cyclical in nature. The initial lockdown was followed by the creation of new protocols and pilot events and finally the return of limited spectators in December, only to be undone by rising cases and ultimately a second wave of the virus. We now find ourselves again approaching the end of a cycle.