4501 spectators flocked to Hereford Racecourse earlier today for the first card since December 2012.
The course originally opened in 1771 but was closed four years ago with an attendance of just 2399 at the final meeting.
The Guardian reported that: 'It returned with a bang, however. Hereford city centre was gridlocked an
hour before the first race and racegoers arriving from the opposite
direction were abandoning their cars and starting to walk from almost a
mile away. Many more were there to renew their acquaintance with
Hereford than had turned up to say goodbye.'
“Most of these things, when they go, they’re gone and here’s one where
they’ve made a fantastic effort to get it back," said jockey Nicky Henderson.
"To come here on a day
like this and see a crowd like this, it shows what can be achieved. If
you look at the crowd, that tells you enough.”
The Guardian also noted the similarity between the racecourse and the football ground.
Locals have flocked to support Hereford FC since they emerged from the ashes of Hereford United in 2014 and now they may do the same for its racecourse.'
“When we were about a mile away, I thought the traffic must be because of roadworks,” Keith Morgan, a regular at the track in the past and now, hopefully, in the future, too, said. “Then I realised it was the traffic for the races. I think it’s brilliant and I just hope the support will continue, like it has for the football club.”