Cheltenham close to protest decision
Cheltenham racecourse officials expect to be able to tell a group of Manchester United fans in the next few days whether they can stage a protest at next month’s Festival meeting.
Cheltenham’s managing director Edward Gillespie revealed today that talks had taken place with JP McManus, who owns over a quarter of United shares with John Magnier after the pair’s success in racing.
“There has been progress, but I am still working on what we said would be our agenda, that we would be contacting the people who are requesting the facility by the end of this week,” he said.
The group, United4Action, want to stage a protest on the Thursday of the meeting – Tote Gold Cup day – against McManus and Magnier’s involvement at Old Trafford.
Gillespie added: “I have spoken to all our board, have had more than one meeting with our police, and I shall be discussing options with them again before the end of this week.
“I met up with Jonjo O’Neill and JP McManus last week and I made sure that JP understands the options facing us and the consequence of each of those options.
“I have also spoken with Coolmore and the chief executive at Manchester United, but the main thing is for everybody to realise what the consequences of any decision would be.
“The discussions have been very helpful and we have tried to get everybody necessary involved in the consultation process.
“We still have four weeks to the Gold Cup (on March 18), but we are still baffled how Cheltenham racecourse gets into what is a private matter and people’s views about it.
“The safety of the horses and jockeys and the security of the racegoers remain our number one priority and we will make sure that whatever decision we make, we will able to manage the consequences.”
