Catterick takes ‘step into unknown’ as racing returns

flat RACING resumes at Catterick today, with clerk of the course Fiona Needham describing the prospect as a “little step into the unknown”.
Racig is due to resume at Catterick today.Racig is due to resume at Catterick today.
Racig is due to resume at Catterick today.

Six meetings have been lost at the North Yorkshire track and the compactness of buildings has provided challenges over social distancing.

It explains why the track’s 120-seat restaurant has been converted into an overspill changing room for 27 jockeys who will be split between this makeshift facility and the new weighing room. Yet, with final preparations complete, Needham is looking forward to a nine-race programme that has attracted very competitive fields.

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“For smaller tracks, it has been more difficult because we don’t have as many big rooms available,” she told The Yorkshire Post.

Fiona Needham is Catterick's clerk of the course.Fiona Needham is Catterick's clerk of the course.
Fiona Needham is Catterick's clerk of the course.

“But it will be nice to be back racing – it was a novelty when someone phoned up and asked about the ground which is currently good. A bit of normality.”

As for the long-term impact on the course, Needham added: “We’re still unsure what the rest of the year is like. It’s been three months, but it seems like a lifetime. We took advantage of the furlough scheme but we’ve still got buildings to maintain, grass to cut and everything else.”

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