The Northumberland Plate Festival racing event has been cancelled.
Newcastle Racecourse has confirmed that the annual three-day racing event will no longer go ahead in June 2020, due to coronavirus restrictions. The fixture was axed following an update from the British Horseracing Authority on Friday May 1.
A Newcastle Racecourse spokesperson said: "Following an further update from the British Horseracing Authority, we can confirm that all of our race meetings that were scheduled to take place in June have been cancelled.
"This includes the Northumberland Plate Meeting due to take place between Thursday June 25 and Saturday June 27. This is subject to the development of a new fixture list for British Racing to potentially be run during this period."
The festival's main event, Plate Day, includes the most famous race in Newcastle's calendar, 'The Northumberland Plate', said to be the richest handicap in Europe. More than 18,000 attended 2019's Plate Day.
The Racecourse spokesperson added: "All customers who have booked tickets or hospitality for any meeting during June, including the Northumberland Plate Festival, will be eligible to transfer their booking to another fixture, or receive a full refund.
"We will be in touch with those customers from Monday with more information."
Ladies Day is still set to go ahead at Newcastle Racecourse, Gosforth Park on Saturday July 25, as things stand.
