IN her monthly column for the Hereford Times chief executive of Hereford Racecourse, Rebecca Davies, tells us of the rollercoaster that Covid-19 restrictions brought.

After a rollercoaster 18 months, my goodness it felt good to open the doors once more to the public for our Season Re-opener Raceday earlier this month.

As racegoers arrived, it reminded me how dull racing behind closed doors had been last season due to Covid-19.

The vibrancy, excitement and atmosphere had been stripped out of racedays as we were forced to race with nobody here other than horses and minimal representation from stable staff and trainers.

Owners were not even allowed to come and watch their horses run. Racing became clinical.

This is in no way a criticism of anyone; it was what was required due to well intentioned restrictions placed on us by the Government, British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and local authority as the country grappled with the pandemic.

And a word if I may for Herefordshire Council.

There will doubtless be those that oppose whatever a council does and whilst at times the additional parameters placed on us to continue racing behind closed doors were extremely limiting great confidence should be taken in the knowledge that the work Herefordshire Council did behind the scenes to support Hereford Racecourse whilst remaining absolutely resolute and focussed on mitigating the spread of Covid-19 further within the county was impressive.

Hereford Racecourse, like so many businesses in the county, had our income streams stopped overnight.

In fact we were the last racecourse in Britain to race with crowds on March 16 before racing in Britain ceased altogether for two months.

We then bounced through lockdown from one change to another, we were the only racecourse in the country in Tier 1 due to race in January with crowds and then bang another lockdown and further wasted costs.

However, we have come through that and are fully charged for the season ahead. To hear the phones ring once more and people book tickets or hospitality, enquire about race sponsorship or hold events on site it is wonderful to be back engaging with the people of Herefordshire once more.

We have lost friends along the way and remember them fondly in the months ahead.