Prominent trainers were in disbelief on Friday evening with racing three days away from its planned resumption but with no clear signal from the government on whether a return to action will be allowed. After feverish preparations, Newcastle racecourse has anti-infection precautions in place for the arrival on Monday of 120 horses and their connections, but fears persist that the whole enterprise could yet be brought to a halt.
“It’s incredible,” said the trainer Richard Fahey, who has seven horses due to run on Monday. “It’s beyond belief to think that we’re at this stage and we 100% don’t know. But the government don’t seem to be giving strong guidance on everything. Boris Johnson did say we’ve covered the five tests, so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t race. He must know we’re racing on Monday and he hasn’t said we can’t.”
Mark Johnston, who also plans to send runners to Newcastle, believes the raceday will be allowed to proceed but is fearful of the consequences if not. “Any delay now would be absolutely catastrophic,” he said.
“It’s not just the plans for next week. The whole system that’s been created around two-year-olds assumes they can run next week in order to go to Royal Ascot a fortnight later. We’ve got Classics at the end of next week. We would really have to think again if it didn’t start on Monday.”
Johnston is also mindful of the fact that racing continues in France, where the first Classics of the year will be staged at Deauville on Monday. If the sport proved unable to resume in Britain, he fears major owners would be tempted to switch their interests across the Channel.
“Within two days of racing being suspended here, I lost nine horses,” Johnston said. “Five of those went to Ireland because they were still racing there, though it had stopped by the time they got there. But now they’re racing in France. If we had any further suspension now, it would be disastrous. You’d see some being moved to France and not just any old horses, it would be the best ones.”
Fahey also foresees dire consequences if racing’s carefully laid plans go pear-shaped. “It will ruin the business if we get shut down again. Not just the racing side but the whole breeding side, it would be a disaster, take years to get over it. I think we’ve been lucky and if we can carry on from now to the end of the season, it’ll be limited damage. But there has been damage done.”
Ready to rumble @NewcastleRaces with x10 races sponsored kindly by @betway and full fields of 12 runners on Mon 1st June! Those travelling allow plenty of time to get in. Temperature testing station open from 7.30am. @SkySportsRacing @AtTheRaces pic.twitter.com/N4EPjJ0mIS
— James Armstrong (@JRFArmstrong) May 29, 2020
Racing has been starved of action since mid-March and Monday’s races were so heavily oversubscribed that 198 entrants had to be balloted out. Fahey himself had 24 horses ruled out in this way. “If I could have handpicked the ones I wanted to run, it wasn’t the ones that got in,” he said. “But let’s hope we get something.”
For racing to go ahead on Monday requires the government to publish its guidelines on how sporting action can be managed behind closed doors. The BHA needs to ensure its safety protocols, issued last weekend, comply with those; there will now be little time to adjust if, as is expected, the government guidelines are published on Saturday.
But BHA officials have been involved in the discussions that led to formulation of the government’s guidelines and there is confidence at 75 High Holborn that there will be no great surprises in the small print when those guidelines finally see the light of day.
“We’re counting down the hours to the return of racing,” a BHA statement said, “and looking forward to official confirmation from the UK Government after it has published its guidelines for the resumption of sport in the next day or so. The long break is nearly over.” Chris Cook
Nine runners for French Classic
Victor Ludorum heads a field of nine for Monday’s French 2,000 Guineas at Deauville. The Andre Fabre-trained colt suffered a shock defeat on his return at Longchamp earlier this month, but will get the chance to redeem himself, and add a second Group One triumph to his CV, in the first French Classic of the season. Alson is another Group One winner and will be having his first start for Fabre, who can also call on the Coolmore-owned Arapaho. PA Media
Scottish racing to return in late June
The British Horseracing Authority said on Thursday that it is planning a resumption of racing in Scotland at Ayr on 22 June, “in accordance with the Scottish government’s route map for exiting lockdown”, with fixtures also planned for Hamilton Park (24 and 28 June) and Musselburgh (30 June) before the end of next month.
Final declarations for Monday’s card behind closed doors at Newcastle, which is expected to be the first meeting in Britain since mid-March, are due to be published on Friday morning, but Scotland’s more cautious path out of lockdown in comparison to that in England means that sport will not be possible, even behind the closed doors, until later in the month.
Meanwhile, Aidan O’Brien said on Thursday that he could have as many as four runners in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on 6 June as he attempts to win the Classic for the fourth year running and the 11th time in all.
Arizona (7-1), who took the Coventry Stakes at last year’s Royal Ascot, is prominent in the ante-post betting along with Wichita (20-1), who finished third behind Pinatubo, the 2,000 Guineas favourite, in the Dewhurst Stakes in October.
Tips by Chris Cook
Sha Tin
5.15 Kanbeki Molly 5.45 Galaxy Racer 6.15 El Jefe 6.45 Quadruple Double 7.15 General Trump 8.05 Party Genius 8.40 Natural Storm 9.10 Flying Sword 9.40 Southern Legend 10.15 Fantastic Show 10.50 Lucky More
O’Brien’s planning is further complicated by the Irish government’s mandatory two-week quarantine rule for all citizens returning to the country from abroad, which also means the trainer himself will not be at Newmarket on Saturday week. Greg Wood
Newcastle is Schrodinger's meeting at the moment, isn't it? Both on and off at the same time.
— David Massey (@TenEmbassy) May 29, 2020
