Following the publication of the Government’s roadmap for recovery, the BHA issued a statement last night working towards the new proposals for the safe return of sporting events behind closed doors. This can be from 1st June if certain criteria are fulfilled. You can read the full BHA statement in their press release below.
Statement Expected On Monday 11th
With the Government now giving their lockdown update on Sunday, Racing Industry leaders will meet on Monday 11th May to discuss the announcement.
They will make a statement afterwards which will hopefully bring some clarity.
We understand the process has been undertaken to select the racecourses to stage the first phase of the resumption of racing. We still expect a fixture list and programme of races for the resumption to be published this week.
Will Racing Resume On 15th May ?
Some positive speculation that racing in the UK could resume as soon as a week on Friday, May 15th.
Government will outline easing of lockdown restrictions, probably on Thursday and if given clearance to race behind closed doors, the BHA believe fixtures can be up and running within a week.
A fixture list will be published this week and that will be in place and apply for whenever racing resumes, be it on 15th May or beyond.
The horses at Northgate Lodge did some work on Saturday morning and are in good order. We’ll be keen to get going as soon as we can.
We should have more news later this week, so keep in touch.
New fixture list being prepared
The latest update for the resumption of racing was published by the BHA on 30th April.
The update stated: “To help trainers plan, during the next week we will be developing a provisional programme for the first seven days of racing following resumption – whatever the resumption date.
“We will then subsequently publish the rest of the provisional programme up until the end of June. This will be as close as possible to the original programme for the period, which means we will be looking to stage roughly the same number of races by type, class and distance.
“Ahead of this, we will issue a fixture cancellation notice for all fixtures that were originally scheduled to take place during May and June. This simply reflects the fact that we will be publishing a new provisional programme and does not seek to pre-empt or pre-judge any government decisions around lockdown or resumption.”
More decisions will be taken over the coming days and we all look forward to a time when racing can resume, albeit behind closed doors and with many restrictions.
Resumption of Racing Planning
All remains well at Northgate Lodge with the staff and horses. The daily routine continues as we work our way through the national lockdown and await news of when it is deemed safe for racing to start again. We will be ready to go !!
The BHA link below provides an interesting insight into the thoughts and planning being taken for a resumption of racing to happen and how this is initially likely to be achieved.
Happy Easter
We wish all our friends & followers a very Happy Easter in these difficult times. Stay healthy and we look forward to being back racing as soon as it’s safe to do so.