English tracks prepared for return of bumper crowds after easing of restrictions

Big crowds are expected at Britain’s five meetings – Ascot, Newcastle, Newmarket, Salisbury and York – on Saturday following the near-total lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in England.

Ascot, which normally welcomes a crowd of up to 25,000 for its midsummer showpiece, the £875,000 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes, is hoping for around 14,500 this time, 2,500 more than the daily number that could attend its royal meeting as part of a pilot scheme last month.

Tickets will be available on the Ascot gates for the first time since early 2020, and director of racing and communications Nick Smith said: “We’re hoping for about 14,500, but it’s hard to predict because for the first time in ages we’ll have some walk-ins. There is no cap on the number of people we can have in so let’s hope we get lucky with the weather.”