coronavirus horse racing

Making his fourth consecutive appearance in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, the 7-year-old gelding Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect) did what few have done over the course of the weekend--rally from far back on the main track to score an 18-1 upset in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint Saturday at Keeneland. The $4.2-million earner lagged in the latter third of the field early as Japanese raider Jasper Prince (Violence) ensured a fast pace, chased along by fellow longshot Empire of Gold (Goldencents). Traveling nicely within himself on the turn, Whitmore crept into...

With racing in Britain and Ireland continuing behind closed doors, fellow European nations on the continental mainland are now enduring a temporary shutdown of the racing programme in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, France and Germany became the latest countries to call a halt to racing in the short term, following similar moves by Italy and Spain. France's President Emmanuel Macron imposed a 15-day lock down on Monday evening, while earlier that afternoon France Galop issued a statement announcing that there would be no racing in France...

In a bid to combat the spread of coronavirus, another three race meetings in France will be run without any spectators under orders from the local authorities in the Oise region, which includes Chantilly. Tuesday's meeting at Chantilly was staged behind closed doors this week along with two at nearby Compiegne, and that has now been extended to next week when the racing at Chantilly on Monday, Tuesday and Friday will be run without members of the public being admitted. A statement released by France Galop on Wednesday read, "At...

British racing's coronavirus steering group-comprising the British Horseracing Authority, the Racecourse Association and horsemen-announced racing would "continue as usual" and stressed there was "no need to develop a policy regarding abandonment of any specific fixtures due to coronavirus at this time," after meeting on Friday. Within the last 24 hours, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Britain has risen from three to 19, and a first case was confirmed in Wales. "We will continue to speak to government and should a situation arise where this is required then the...