As a result of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in the country, all horse racing operations in South Korea will be suspended at least through Mar. 22. Alastair Middleton, an English racecaller for the Korean Racing Authority, reported the news in a tweet Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, officials at the KRA announced that racing would cease in the country beginning Friday, Feb. 28 before the situation was reevaluated Mar. 9. A total of 12 meetings (including pony races) at the three KRA-owned facilities were to be canceled. An additional six fixtures will be lost to coronavirus, with a further assessment to take place Monday, Mar. 23. According to Middleton, that date coincides with government-run theatres, museums and libraries as well as schools which are currently scheduled to re-open that day.
Racing in Hong Kong continues in front of a bare-bones audience, a policy which has now been in place for the better part of the last month. On Wednesday, officials at the Hong Kong Jockey Club announced that 15 selected Off-Course Betting Branches (OCBBs) and two racecourses would be opened Mar. 5, 6 and 9 to allow its customers access to cash in vouchers and winning tickets and to fund betting accounts. Sha Tin and Happy Valley Racecourses were also to be opened on the same days.
On Mar. 2, the HKJC took the decision to open 17 of its 101 OCBBs, but South China Morning Post reported that some 40,000 patrons congregated and with entry restricted to only small groups of people at a time, it meant long waiting periods of up to 90 minutes.
“We have had a review [after Monday's opening] and we would like to apologise for causing significant crowding in certain areas but our customers were obviously very keen to come,” Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges told SCMP. “We hope these arrangements make it more acceptable for our customers and for Hong Kong. We have to accept that in some locations, it was impossible to manage. Hopefully this addresses public concern and our customers can cash in their money quicker.”
The Japan Racing Association allowed racing to proceed over the past weekend while closing the racetracks to the public unti further notice. JRA tote handle held up reasonably well, declining 12.6% Saturday versus 2019 and 20.1% Sunday, according to the Twitter account of Graham Pavey.Suspe
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