Qatar Pavilion earns Goodwood a top racing award

GOODWOOD is celebrating a top award.
The Qatar Pavilion was a stunning addition to surroundings at Goodwood / Picture by Malcolm WellsThe Qatar Pavilion was a stunning addition to surroundings at Goodwood / Picture by Malcolm Wells
The Qatar Pavilion was a stunning addition to surroundings at Goodwood / Picture by Malcolm Wells

The Racecourse Association, in conjunction with Great British Racing, has announced Goodwood as #TopSpot Award winners at the sixth annual Showcase Awards ceremony, held at Ascot Racecourse.

The #TopSpot Award was presented to Goodwood for the magnificent Qatar Pavilion put up to greet race-goers throughout the summer’s Qatar Goodwood Festival, aka Glorious Goodwood.

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As well as welcoming guests to the Qatar Goodwood Festival, the pavilion provided a beautiful insight into the culture of Qatar. An arresting sight, the installation was decorated with 40,000 clove carnations, 4,000 of which guests were invited to take as a complimentary buttonhole.

The Showcase Awards celebrate excellence and innovation on Britain’s racecourses, with individual awards handed out over ten categories plus two Champion Awards – Racecourse and Groundstaff.

The title of Showcase champion recognises overall excellence throughout all aspects of the racecourse, with York storming to a well-deserved victory on a night that saw the track also scooping the groundstaff, food and beverage and owners’ experience award.

From 71 entries, the independent judging panel selected five finalists within each category and an overall winner. The race-going public also had their say by nominating their best examples of customer service in the Racing Post Readers’ Award and ROA members inputted to the Owners’ Experience Award.

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Ascot racecourse continued to excel at the Showcase Awards by winning a further two Awards- the Best Campaign Award for ‘Like Nowhere Else’ and the first racecourse ever to win the Social/Digital Media Excellence Award.

Other winning submissions on the night included Doncaster’s Christmas Live in the Events category, Aintree’s all-encompassing initiative in CSR, Market Rasen’s Big Jigsaw Challenge in All About the Horse and Cheltenham’s All Hands On Deck which saw them complete the construction of the new grandstand whilst continuing to provide a first-class racing experience for customers.

Hamilton Park received the Racing Post Readers’ Award for their dedication to providing exemplary customer service.

The awards followed on from the daytime programme of seminars and idea sharing between racecourses, which also featured guest speakers from Arsenal FC, Appletiser, Quintain, Channel 4 Racing and Two Circles.

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RCA Chairman Maggie Carver said: “The Showcase & Awards have yet again proved that British Racecourses are constantly innovating to ensure that the customer experience is as good as it can be. The depth of quality within the submissions this year is perhaps the strongest it has ever been, so it is a genuine mark of excellence to be crowned a winner.”

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