British racing resumption

The date of June 1 has for several weeks been dangling tantalisingly over British racing as the earliest possible day of resumption for a sport which has been under wraps since Mar. 18, five days before country went into full lockdown. With restrictions having been eased in recent weeks, hopes continued to grow that racing could be one of the first professional sports to burst back into action from the coronavirus-enforced hiatus, but it took until 4pm on Saturday, May 30 for the government to grant its consent publicly. There...

Today's the day that trainers in Britain can make entries for the first race meeting to be staged in Britain since March 17. Never will there have been so much interest in a Class 6 handicap at Newcastle as there will be next Monday at 1pm when the gates ping back to deliver a long awaited resumption of activity. As we have seen in France and Germany with last-minute interventions and location changes, it is perhaps unwise to assume that racing will actually take place on Monday in Britain, but...

The 2-year-old races scheduled for the first eight days of racing in Britain after an intended resumption on June 1 will be given priority to be divided. With the expectation of a high number of entries for those 14 races in the short run-up to Royal Ascot, the BHA has introduced a number of measures to cope with the level of demand. At fixtures where stabling capacity allows, it is possible that races may divide more than once, provided that the number of races at each meeting does not exceed...

Horses trained outside Britain will only be allowed to run in the three Group 1 races during the opening fortnight of the delayed British Flat season. All other races in Britain during the first weeks of the season will be closed to international runners following the planned resumption on June 1. In an update released on Friday evening, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) announced that it will allow horses from overseas to run in the Coronation Cup (June 5), 2000 Guineas (June 6) and 1000 Guineas (June 7). It read,...

The British Horseracing Authority is working its plans for a return of racing off a June 1 resumption date that will begin with a meeting at Newcastle, it revealed on Thursday evening. The governing body had released further details on Wednesday of its plans for the first seven days of racing's return, including dates for the season's first four Classics, without a concrete start date, but a release on Thursday began, "Following the UK Government's publication of a provisional timeline for the return of sport, we are now planning for...

British racing's leaders will meet on Monday following the government's expected Sunday announcement regarding the country's plans for the easing and gradual exit from lockdown. There has been no racing in Britain since the two National Hunt meetings held behind closed doors at Wetherby and Taunton on March 17. The weekly update from the Resumption of Racing Group stated, "We understand that everyone across the industry wants to know the date on which racing can resume. We are continuing to have positive conversations with government, including public health officials. However,...

The British Horseracing Authority over the next week will draw up a provisional programme for the first seven days of racing's resumption, with that resumption date yet to be determined. In a release on Thursday, the BHA said it will then publish the remainder of the provisional programme up until the end of June. Racecourses were this week invited to submit expressions of interest to stage fixtures upon racing's return, which will help with the development of the provisional programme. Racing's resumption will be based on a phased approach, and...