oodwood racecourse in Sussex will be the first major sporting venue in Britain to open its doors to paying spectators since the start of the lockdown in March on the final afternoon of Glorious Goodwood next month. The first four days of the Festival meeting will be staged behind closed doors, but the track’s 4,000 annual members will be allowed in to watch the action on 1 August, in the first trial of safety and social distancing rules ahead of a more widespread return of spectators to live sport in the autumn. The Qatar Stewards’ Cup, one of the biggest betting races of the Flat season, is the highlight of the final day’s card, which also includes the Group Two Lillie Langtry Stakes. “We are delighted that the Qatar Goodwood Festival has been selected as a pilot event for the return of crowds,” Adam Waterworth, Goodwood’s managing director, said on Friday. “It marks an important day for the sports industry following a few challenging months. “Our annual members have continued to support us throughout, for which we are enormously grateful. It is therefore fantastic to offer them the opportunity to witness racing on the Downs again. “The Goodwood team will ensure the racecourse adheres to Government guidelines on social distancing and hygiene. We hope that this will be the next step in ensuring crowds for future sporting events.” The Racecourse Association said on Friday that Goodwood had been chosen as a pilot for the re-admission of spectators for a number of reasons, including its “rural setting with a low prevalence rate of the coronavirus”. The course holds full contact details for all its annual members, and said this week that it is “able to communicate with them very quickly” if necessary. However, Friday’s announcement from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport did not mention the Ebor meeting at York in mid-August, which had also been hoping to admit a limited number of spectators. The course is no longer offering tickets for the meeting for sale on its website. The economic pressures facing all parts of the racing industry as a result of the coronavirus pandemic were also highlighted on Thursday when Group-race winning trainer Ed Vaughan said that he will close down his operation later in the year. Vaughan was an assistant to Noel Chance, Charlie Mann and Alec Stewart before taking out a licence after Stewart’s death in 2004. His first Group race success came with Robin Hoods bay in the Winter Derby at Lingfield in 2014 while only last week, he recorded one of the biggest wins of his career when Dame Malliot and Hollie Doyle took the Group Two Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket. “I haven’t just woken up and decided to do this,” Vaughan said in a statement on his website. “It’s been on my mind for a while and now seems the right time to finish up training here in the UK. “As everyone is aware, with the reductions in prize-money and the cost of running a business being so high, the economics of training in Britain are not good. I’m taking this decision now because I can see things getting worse in the next year.” Greg Wood’s Friday tips If money talks, it is not being too complimentary about the chance of Gloweth (2.20) in the fillies’ handicap at Chepstow this afternoon. Stuart Kittow’s front-running mare was a clear 9-4 favourite in the early betting yesterday but is now out to 9-2, perhaps as backers start to wonder whether her five-length win over track and trip last month was really as good as it looked, and whether a subsequent 11lb hike in the weights might be enough to stop her. The time of that race, however, suggested that Gloweth’s victory was every bit as comprehensive as it seemed, and a big step up on anything she had previously achieved. The fact that she was strong in the betting beforehand can be taken two ways in the light of this morning’s drift, but 9-2 looks very big all-in-all and she has also drawn a stall close to the favoured stands’ rail. The unexposed Mina Velour (5.25) is an interesting new recruit for Julie Camacho on the card at Haydock later, while Zihaam (3.40) should confirm recent course-and-distance form with Ideal Candy at Beverley this afternoon. Trevithick (3.10), meanwhile, is a fair each-way chance at around 20-1 at the same track. Consistency is not his strong point but there are a couple of bits of form in his fairly recent past that give him a big chance and there is no need to risk too much at his current odds.