Canberra Racing Club facing huge half-million dollar COVID-19 blow

Tuesday's Melbourne Cup meeting alone will deliver a six-figure blow with Thoroughbred Park allowed just 685 patrons on track for its annual event, barely 10 per cent of its usual intake.

Early projections suggest the restricted Cup crowd will cost the club up to $120,000, mostly through significantly reduced sponsorship and hospitality revenue.

Racing has continued in Canberra during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the club has been forced to operate on a skeleton staff and take oppressive measures for the small number of fans allowed on track for race days.

Patrons have been split up across various venues throughout Thoroughbred Park, while jockeys, trainers and stable staff have not been allowed to interact with the public.

Of the 685 fans attending on Tuesday, 257 will be split across the betting ring and the Winning Post Bar. Those in the betting ring will have access to an on-course bookmaker, but need to be seated if drinking an alcoholic beverage.

A further 128 will be hosted in the Black Opal Room, 118 in the Silks Room, 66 in the Rich Reward and 120 in a marquee. Race goers will not be permitted to move between areas, and the marquee and Rich Reward room will be without a bookmaker.

Thoroughbred Park chief Andrew Clark said maintaining the safety of all attendees was the club's priority.

"We'll obviously comply with all restrictions and our main aim is to keep our participants in the community safe, we don't want to put anybody at risk due to COVID-19," Clark said.

"Like the majority of the community we also hope that we are able to move on from COVID-19 in the near future.

"Hospitality's obviously hardest hit - on a standard Melbourne Cup crowd we would have 5000 people in attendance.

"That's obviously a drastic impact on the club's finances."

Were a trainer or jockey to contract COVID-19 from a member of the public, it would put the entire club at risk and deliver a significant blow to the industry.

Therefore patrons are not allowed access to the grassed area in front of the grandstand to watch the mounting yard parade, or for a closer look at horses running past the winning post.

A viewing area out to the track has been secured for attendees stationed in the betting ring, while owners in the Winning Post Bar will also have visual access to the home straight.

"It's exactly the same as the football game whereby the players are all out on the field and the other people associated with the football clubs are kept separate [from the public]," Clark said.

"It's the only time that Gratz Vella will be compared to Josh Papalii."

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Tuesday's reduced crowd is a far cry from Melbourne Cups of years gone past at Thoroughbred Park.

From 2007 to 2009 when Canberra observed a public holiday for the Melbourne Cup, the racing club would need to turn people away such was the demand to be on track.

Thoroughbred Park will conduct an eight-race program on Tuesday, with a near two-hour gap halfway through the program to accommodate the Melbourne Cup.

The feature $30,000 Federal Handicap (1300m) will run at 6.03pm with the final race on the card jumping at 6.38pm.

Clark was hopeful the crowd cap would be increased early next year in time for the Canberra Cup and Black Opal.

"We've got the Canberra carnival to look forward to in March, and we've got some different modeling we're working through now in terms of that Canberra carnival," Clark said.

"It's important for us to monitor all costs, and keep a direct hold on our wagering revenue which is clearly a vital revenue source during times such as this."

The two-day Canberra Carnival is scheduled for March 7-8 next year, with the Black Opal Stakes (1200m) to be run on the Sunday, and the Canberra Cup (2000m) on the Monday. Both races are worth $250,000.

Meanwhile, Ian Mackay has stepped down as chairman of the Canberra Racing Club, but will remain on the board. He has been replaced by Tim Olive who will assume his second stint as chairman.