BHA to release June fixtures on Friday

Huge step toward racing’s resumption

A set of starting stalls at ParisLongchamp racecourse. Picture: Alan Crowhurst/Getty

A fixture list outlining meetings to the end of June will be published by the British Horseracing Authority on Friday, with 72-hour declarations employed until further notice.

The BHA is planning for racing to resume on 1 June, subject to government approval, and last week sent out a programme for the first eight days of action, with the rest of the provisional June schedule to follow this week.

It then intends to publish protocols for racing behind closed doors no later than May 26, with the BHA also outlining steps trainers need to take, including updating employee information and uploading horse vaccination records.

All racecourse attendees will be required to complete an online education module which gives an understanding of Covid-19, social distancing, hand and respiratory hygiene, racecourse protocols and personal protective equipment requirements.

The BHA’s chief medical adviser, Dr Jerry Hill, has been working with his counterparts in other sports to develop a safety protocol for people in roles at greater risk of exposure, with the guidance set to define who must wear some protective equipment.

All racecourse attendees will be required to undergo pre-entry health screening, although the exact process is still in development.

The BHA has also revised its plans for juvenile races in the first week of action. It had been proposed that a select group of trainers would be able to nominate certain two-year-olds to be given priority against elimination from races during the first eight days after resumption. The policy has now been extended to include all trainers, following discussions with the National Trainers Federation and the Racehorse Owners Association.

Trainers who did not qualify for priority selections under the initial criteria will now be able to make up to one selection should they feel they have an Ascot prospect.

Across the channel, meanwhile, France Galop has been forced into a reorganisation of its fixture list after the French government withdrew its approval to race in areas still heavily affected by the 
coronavirus.

The government classifies different parts of the country into red and green zones and with Paris in a red area, courses such as ParisLongchamp, Auteuil and Saint-Cloud will no longer be permitted to race. Racing can continue in the south and west of the country, with France Galop looking to reschedule meetings at alternate venues.

A statement from the authority said: “After obtaining permission to resume racing on Monday, 11 May, the parent companies learned during the day that a government decree specifying the terms and conditions for the opening of the racecourses would be published in the next few days.

“This decree should specify that horseracing is indeed carried out in the departments located in the green zones but not in those located in the red zones. The regions in red are Ile-de-France, Hauts-de-France, Grand-Est and Bourgogne-Franche-Comte.

“While the resumption of racing is reinforced by this decree to be published, the parent companies and the Federation Nationale des Courses Hippiques deeply regret that the racecourses located in the red zones cannot operate as they have done since 11 May. The reinforced closed-door protocol and all sanitary measures have also been scrupulously respected since the resumption of racing on 11 May. Regular controls have been carried out and have not revealed any problems.

“The teams are working on plans to rearrange the May and June calendar and will announce as soon as possible where the races that were scheduled in the red zones will be held. This calendar will be subject to changes as soon as a red department turns green.”

ParisLongchamp was scheduled to race on Thursday and it is also due to stage the French Guineas meeting on 1 June.

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