Worcester facilities hit by ‘mindless vandals’

Track officials overwhelmed by support in getting ready for racing next week.

Staff at Worcester racecourse arrived at work on Friday morning to find the track had been the target of an overnight attack by vandals.

The weighing room, a temporary structure built to comply with Covid-19 regulations, had been broken into by individuals who tore down the internal structures and left the furnishings upturned.

Another structure, a stable staff catering facility nearby, was also damaged as the intruders left bins, furniture and catering equipment strewn across the floor.

“The weighing room has been completely trashed overnight by mindless vandals, and an adjacent one where we have a catering arrangement on a race day,” said Rebecca Davies, executive director at the track.

“There’s a public right of way through the racecourse and they’ve broken into the facility.

“There’s absolutely no reason whatsoever, nothing has been stolen or taken, it’s just mindless, pointless vandalism.

The Worcester team are currently at work repairing the damage ahead of next week, where the track races on both the Wednesday and Sunday.

“The team are sorting through the broken bits, we’ve had to ring various contractors because it’s the jockeys’ changing rooms that we are using for racing next Wednesday and Sunday,” Davies said.

“If we were racing today we wouldn’t be able to go ahead, but everyone’s been fantastic actually and we’ve got everything lined up for the companies to come in who provide various bits of equipment that need replacing and changing in time for racing next week.

“It’s a lot of hard work and a lot of wasted money, plus time that we don’t really have, but the people that have done it don’t see that or think like we do.”

There is CCTV footage of the incident that has been passed over to West Mercia Police and Davies is thankful for the supportive words she has received from those within the industry.

“There’s CCTV and that’s in the hands of the police, they’ve got their job to do now,” she said.

“We’re just working through the site and making sure that we can put it back together and that we’re fit and ready to welcome racegoers next week.

“I’ve been very humbled by the support we’ve been shown on social media, and also I’ve had a number of calls and messages this morning from trainers and jockeys and colleagues in the industry.

“It’s just the question of why, we’ll never know but sadly some people just have a mindset where they think it’s acceptable to behave in this way.”

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