The HWPA newsletter for June…
Goodwood Accreditation
Press accreditation for Goodwood Racecourse’s Qatar Goodwood Festival (Tuesday 26th July – Saturday 30th July) is now open and will close at 12 noon on Wednesday 20th July.
RCA Media Accreditation will not provide entry into Goodwood Racecourse during the five-day Qatar Goodwood Festival. Accreditation must be applied for using the online portal.
The system is designed to be as simple as possible; to apply for accreditation please follow these steps:
1. Sign in to your press account, you will not be able to apply without being signed in. If you don’t have an account you can create one here. If you have forgotten your password you can reset it here.
2. Once signed in head to Goodwood.com/accreditation and apply for your chosen day(s).
3. You will receive email confirmation of your application(s) and a further email once your application has been processed to confirm it has been approved or denied.
You will find the link to the 2022 Horseracing Press Accreditation Guidelines on the Media Accreditation page. Please take a couple of minutes to read before you proceed.
The RCA ‘P’ parking label will allow the bearer to park in press car park 4. Please note that this car park is available on a first come, first served basis. Overflow from car park 4 and those without an RCA ‘P’ label will be parked in car park 8 opposite the Racecourse.
Access to this year’s race meeting is likely to be limited, as will the likelihood of access to the paddock, winners enclosure, and pre-parade ring.
Should you have any questions about the accreditation process, please contact Emma Chamings; emma@jsccomms.co.uk.
York Ebor Festival Accreditation
York has decided to have an accreditation process for Media for the Ebor Festival again this year. Rather than an online process, there is a form to complete. This has been sent to all RCA Accredited Media. The opening paragraph of the form is as follows:
Given the positive reviews from last season and that space is limited in the formal Press Room, York Racecourse has continued with an application process for the Ebor Festival.
Please note, RCA lanyards will not be guaranteed access during the Ebor Festival.
Please co-ordinate requests with colleagues from the same media outlets and have them back to [Maiti Stirling] no later than Wednesday 3rd August.
We will be in touch with you 10 days before the Ebor Festival regarding attendance.
I’m afraid my skills do not run to working out how to add an attachment to a Mailchimp email.
Therefore. If you are RCA Accredited and have not received the email with the form or if you are not and wish to be considered for accreditation, then please let me know and I will forward the form to you.
Royal Ascot
As those who were working at Royal Ascot will know, there were rather different experiences for those who were based in the Level 3 Press room and those in the Media Marquee in the centre of the course. The new Press room was generally well received and though the working spaces are on the small side, the situation proved generally perfectly manageable.
However, the Media Marquee, inside the course, which was the base for most of the racing photographers, proved less than satisfactory and when the temperatures rose on Thursday it became clear there was a health and safety issue. Fortunately, Ascot was able to accommodate anyone who wanted to move in the Media Centre next to the weighing room.
Bill Selwyn did an excellent job in ensuring that the matter was dealt with by the team at Ascot and a more serious situation was averted.
We have written to Ascot with regard to the situation that developed and hope to have a constructive dialogue so that such a problem can be avoided next year.
If you have any comments with regard to working conditions at Royal Ascot last week, please get in touch and I will ensure that they are included in our conversations with the team at Ascot.
Golf
The HWPA Goodwood Golf day will take place again on the Monday before the Festival meeting, the 25th July. This event, which is generously supported by Qatar, is free for HWPA members to enter.
Members who wish to take part should get in touch, giving details of their handicap, via hwpacontacts@gmail.com
I am pleased to say that Rachel Candelora, Rupert Bell and Mark Johnson, who did such an excellent job of organising on behalf of the HWPA last year have agreed to help out again. My grateful thanks to them.
Tipping Competition – Generously sponsored by Sky Bet
Tom Peacock writes:
A five-day competition across the two Classic fixtures led to a very tight finish with three entrants clear of the field. It was Andrew Mount who passed the line first, courtesy of some excellent results, including napping 16-1 chance Cachet in the One Thousand Guineas. J A McGrath was hot on his heels, some big prices for Jim including 22-1 Cap Francais and 14-1 Royal Champion, while Johnno Spence, who also napped Cachet, can be considered unlucky to be only third.
Newmarket and Epsom Results (positive scores only)
Andrew Mount – £36.33
J A McGrath – £34.55
Johnno Spence – £32.98
4. Kel Mansfield – 25.25
5. Dave Ord/Michael Shinners – 23.10
6. John Henwood – 20.8
7. Donn McClean – 16.83
8. Pat Jupp/Keith Melrose – 16.68
9. Frank Keogh – 13.35
10. Rory Delargy – 12.73
11. Jordan McBride 11.38
12. Ben Hutton – 6.85
13. Jason Heavey 6.66
14. Emma Berry 2.75
The next round of the competition took place at Royal Ascot; the result from that will appear in the next newsletter. Round 5, which covers Eclipse day and the three days of the July Festival at Newmarket begins soon.