Nick Rust: In hindsight, Cheltenham 2020 should never have gone ahead
Former BHA chief interviewed by ITV as racing fans criticise broadcaster for eight-minute segment on decision to admit racegoers during a pandemic
The former head of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has said the Cheltenham Festival should never have gone ahead last year despite receiving the go-ahead from medical and government advisers.
Speaking to ITV Racing as part of the coverage of this year’s four-day event, Nick Rust revealed the idea of cancelling the Festival last March was never seriously mooted by various stakeholders.
Rust said: “Our medical advisers were very clear – there was no reason why we should not proceed given that the vast majority of people would be in Cheltenham at that point.
“We did not have definitive advice not to proceed, it was quite the opposite. It was, ‘please continue’,” he added.
Rust went on to state that, in hindsight, the event should never have been held, after 65,000 people on average attended each day of the Festival. Since then, more than 125,000 people have died in the UK 28 days after testing positive for Covid-19.
He said: “Now that we know mass events do indeed add significant risk, obviously we shouldn’t have gone ahead with Cheltenham, but that’s only in hindsight.
Rust distanced the BHA from the core decision-making process, instead pointing out the organisation followed government advice on the situation. Media personality Piers Morgan, who last week quit ITV’s Good Morning Britain, said it was wrong for the BHA to hide behind the government on this issue.
Rust added: “We weren’t hiding behind the government decision, but we were very keen to ensure the government were on-side.”
Hundreds of racing fans took to social media to question the decision to broadcast the segment after the first race on the opening day, with many suggesting it painted the sport in a bad light.
One user said: “Embarrassing this. One race in to our most anticipated festival of the year and you bring the tone and mood down with this.”
In response, an ITV spokesperson said: “Given the unique circumstances and the volume of debate about the staging of last year’s Cheltenham Festival amid the onset of the pandemic, it was natural to include a balanced range of reflections on that week as part of our coverage build-up for this year’s event.”