WELCOME I have never looked forward to writing a welcome so much as I have for today. Welcome everyone to our Cadzow Castle Raceday which marks a momentous occasion, in that it is the first time we have welcomed general racegoers since September 2019, some 20 months ago! Lockdown and the effects of the pandemic have been far reaching for us all. Although we are still some way away from a “normal” way of living and working, we are taking an important step today. With the much valued help from South Lanarkshire Council’s Safety Advisory Group, working with our own team we have been able to formulate a way of configuring the site and opening certain areas that will allow us to welcome back a “medium sized” crowd today. It has actually been quite like the way the government has released restrictions in selected areas for all or us, that we are doing today. Owners who have kept their horses in training throughout lockdown and visit us today will be welcomed back into the Parade Ring (subject to capacity and remaining in prescribed areas) for the first time, which I know has been looked forward to for a long time. We can also welcome guests back into hospitality suites where the rules will be very similar to those we are seeing on the High Street, whereby masks may be removed to eat and drink and patrons are encouraged to remain at their allocated tables throughout the day. Outdoors we are happy to welcome up to 1,000 racegoers to enjoy the open grounds of our racecourse that we are so proud of. At this time, we will be offering hot and soft drinks for sale, together with hot and cold food from the outdoor vendor units. Assuming the delivery of this afternoon and our afternoon meeting next week on 3 June go to plan, we will be able to introduce the sale of alcohol outdoors for general racegoers from the following fixture. Thank you for playing your part today, keeping a safe distance from each other, and so enabling us to hold a safe race meeting for as many people as possible. I know many of you have been looking forward to seeing live horse racing again for a very long time! On the track we have a seven-race card proudly supported by our sister company, our Hampton by Hilton Hamilton Park where I know many of you have stayed and are staying again today. The team there are also working hard to ensure your stay is safe with practices such as the Hilton endorsed CleanStay practices in each and every bedroom. Remember you don’t need to be coming racing to make use of the super facilities of the hotel, but if you do, you will see the racing mindings throughout the hotel in display cabinets, the carpet and the artwork. See if you can spot our local trainers’ names on the reception carpet next time you are in! Today’s feature race, the Hamilton-park.co.uk Cadzow Castle Handicap at 2.40pm sees a field of nine compete for the spoils. Mike Smith’s Black Friday is favoured by some for this win, but Ann Duffield has course expert Joe Fanning on board the current favourite, Lady Nectar. Our thanks also goes to the EBF who supports our first race this afternoon, the EBF Restricted Maiden Stakes with eight keen 2yos opening the afternoon’s entertainment. Roger Fell has both Just a Claim and Miss Wombleton having come up from Yorkshire to double his chances of a win in this one. Thank you for coming today and being part of this afternoon’s raceday. I sincerely hope you enjoy being back. We are certainly delighted to welcome you back and we hope to see you again very soon as more restrictions relax and we head further towards what we all have missed so much, a regular day at the races! Kind regards, VIVIEN CURRIE MBE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE
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