BHA

The British Horseracing Authority on Thursday opened a 10-week open, public consultation on British racing's whip rules and penalities. The consultation, a recommendation of the industry's independently chaired Horse Welfare Board, aims to gather and assess the views of industry participants, stakeholders and wider audiences regarding the rules, use, and penalties for rule breaches. The first part of the consultation is an online questionnaire that will be available until Sept. 6 and is open to anyone. The second part of the consultation will involve detailed discussions with relevant parties and...

After the UK Government announced that they would be taking a four-week pause on the country's progression out of COVID-19 restrictions on Monday, the UK Racing industry acknowledged the reasons for the delay, but expressed disappointment at the news. The COVID-19 roadmap out of lockdown had been due to switch to Stage 4 on June 21, but instead the current restrictions will continue, affecting major racing events like Coral-Eclipse Day at Sandown Park, and the Moet & Chandon July Festival at Newmarket. Currently, the industry is working with the Horserace...

Organisations across British racing have united to improve diversity and inclusion across the sport under a unified "Industry Commitment". The Industry Commitment, which is part of British racing's COVID-19 Recovery Plan for British racing', aims to formalise the sport's approach to diversity and inclusion and builds on the extensive existing activity already taking place, including community engagement, education activity and charitable work. This is highlighted through the Racing Together platform which has already showcased over 80 initiatives. Organisations that have signed on to the Industry Commitment are: the British Horseracing...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that the next phase of England's roadmap out of the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown will go ahead as planned on Monday, meaning that limited spectators may return to English racecourses from May 17. As a result of restrictions easing across England as the Covid alert level moves from level four to level three in seven days, English tracks should be able to host 4,000 spectators or fill a venue to 50% of capacity, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), Racecourse Association (RCA) and The Horsemen's Group (GB)...

Approximately £80 million will be the Levy income for the year that ended on Mar. 31, 2021, the Horserace Betting Levy Board announced on Monday. The figure is a result of provisional submissions to date from most Levy-paying bookmakers. Originally, as the COVID-19 pandemic progressed in the UK, the HBLB had estimated a Levy return between £76-£85 million. Racing in the UK was halted from mid-March until June 1, 2020. HBLB Chairman Paul Darling commented, "There was no British racing for the first two months of the Levy year and...

A saliva testing trial, a screening method for cocaine and some other banned substances, is now under way at UK racecourses, the British Horseracing Authority announced on Wednesday. Utilising oral swabs, the testing method results are provided near-instantly indicating whether substances are present in a rider's system above existing thresholds. If the trial is successful, British racing will become the first major sport in Britain to utilise on-the-day screening for banned substances through oral swabs. If a jockey does not test negative during the trial, they would be stood down...

In conjunction with the sporting community, the British Horseracing Authority--as well as the Racecourse Association, Horsemen's Group, The Jockey Club and Professional Jockeys Association--will take part in a social media boycott beginning 9p.m. on Friday through 11:59 p.m. Monday, May 3. The action highlights the unchecked social media abuse and racism targeting sporting participants and was initially launched by English football's governing bodies last Saturday, with numerous other sport governing bodies, sponsors, partners, broadcasters and media outlets joining in. "I am grateful to everyone in the sport who takes part...

Benoit de la Sayett has returned a positive test for cocaine, the Professional Jockeys Association announced on Tuesday morning. The British Horseracing Authority has subsequently suspended De La Sayette until the end of the disciplinary process. The 18-year-old apprentice jockey to John and Thady Gosden was shown in a video on social media in late March allegedly in the presence of the drug at a party after winning the Unibet Lincoln H. at Doncaster aboard Haqeeqy (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) on Mar. 27. At that time, the PJA defended...

New regulations designed to "support public confidence" are to be introduced for syndicates and racing clubs in Britain. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has announced that the 10 key measures, which include strengthening the existing code of conduct for syndicates and introducing the same for racing clubs, will be phased in over the next 12 months. Presently, all publicly advertised syndicates that charge a management fee must provide members with a contract that covers specified areas. Contract requirements will be extended and the BHA will increase its auditing of these...

UK racing organisations welcomed the news that the racing industry would receive £21 million in loan support, which was announced late on Sunday evening. The loan is to assist with the continuing financial fallout due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA), Racecourse Association (RCA) and The Horsemen's Group released a joint statement in response on Monday morning. The statement read: "The leaders of British racing have welcomed the announcement that around £21 million of loan funding will be made available to the sport through the Sports...

John and Thady Gosen will have their first runners under a joint licence on Saturday, Mar. 27, after announcing their imminent partnership earlier this year. Several horses, among them Haqeeqy (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) in the Doncaster Unibet Lincoln Heritage H., will step forward for the Clarehaven duo on Saturday. The news was first reported by the Racing Post. John Gosden told Racing Post, "It was always the plan to launch the dual-licence for the start of the Flat season and only delays on BHA modules due to Covid-19...

Champion jockey Oisin Murphy has had his return from a three-month riding ban delayed as he has not completed the requisite BHA testing in time to take up his booked rides today (Friday) at Lingfeld. Early on Friday morning, Murphy announced via two tweets that he had been made aware of an "administrative error" which prevented his immediate comeback from a suspension after he tested positive for metabolites of cocaine when riding at Chantilly in July 2020. He said, "At 18.50 yesterday I was personally informed by the BHA due...