Monday's meeting at Kelso Racecourse in Scotland will be contested behind closed doors, following the Scottish government's advice to delay the spread of coronavirus by cancelling mass gatherings.
All Irish racing is closed to the public until Mar. 29, and France Galop put a similar measure in place on Friday, while Osarus postponed his breeze-up sale by five weeks. Britain has not yet barred spectators from any race meetings. The British Horseracing Authority issued a statement on Friday that read, “British racing continues to be in close contact with the UK Government and has been following their advice to continue with business as usual, subject to public health guidance. We are aware of the decisions taken by a number of sports today to suspend fixtures in advance of any Government decision coming into effect. Racing's leaders are monitoring the situation daily and are currently considering a range of options in this rapidly developing situation. Contingency plans are ready as required. We are seeking further guidance from the Scottish Government after their decision yesterday to ban outdoor gatherings of more than 500 people to protect the resilience of critical emergency services. Prior to receiving detailed advice from Scottish Government, racing at Kelso on Monday will be behind closed doors. The number of staff and participants will be below the Scottish Government's figure of 500 for outdoor gatherings.”
In a further coronavirus update, Cologne in Germany was originally scheduled to host its Sunday meeting behind closed doors, but that meeting-the country's first of the year on the turf-has now been scrapped altogether.
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