The G2 Dante S. and G3 Musidora S. will be run at York on July 9 this year, the British Horseracing Authority announced on Tuesday. The two races traditionally act as Derby and Oaks trials respectively, but with the Epsom Classics taking place on July 4 that is not the case this season following various changes to the race calendar necessitated by the coronavirus shutdown. The Dante was originally due to be held on May 14, with the Musidora a day earlier. Click for the revised Flat and Jump programmes for the month of July from the Resumption of Racing Group.
An update to trainers from the cross-industry Resumption of Racing Group said, “In order to ensure the ongoing education of our top-class 3-year-olds, the Dante and Musidora will also be run at York on July 9, despite the fact that they will obviously not be acting as Derby/Oaks trials this year but will simply be Group 2 and Group 3 targets [respectively] in their own right.”
Newmarket's three-day July meeting will also commence on July 9, while the G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth S. at Ascot remains in its scheduled slot of July 25.
From Monday, heritage handicaps will revert to normal safety factors or other field limits determined by racecourses. For all other races, the maximum field limit will increase from 12 runners to 14.
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