Doncaster’s famous Town Moor in frame for ‘safe racing’ meetings

Racing’s leaders are exploring the possibility of effectively ‘isolating’ three racecourses across the country where multiple meetings could be staged over week-long periods.

It would require racecourse personnel, stable staff and jockeys to stay in quarantine on the course – hence why Doncaster is thought to be under consideration because of the proximity of the new Hilton Garden Inn hotel to the historic home of the St Leger.

Effectively, it would see lorries transport horses to the entrances of the chosen venues and then pass the animals into the care of the team of stable staff

Discussions are still at a tentative stage – the plan is dependent on all those taking part being tested for Covid-19 before and after these fixtures as well as confidence that it was safe to resume racing without putting the NHS under additional and unnecessary strain.

It has also been suggested that all-weather courses, like Newcastle, Wolverhampton and Lingfield, might be better suited because the surface of the respective tracks is easier to maintain and would not require extensive ground staff. Furthermore, field sizes could be restricted – and races limited to experienced riders – in an attempt to lessen the risks to jockeys.

A Doncaster spokesman confirmed to The Yorkshire Post that everything possible was being done to prepare for the resumption of racing as soon as coronavirus restrictions are lifted.

They added: “Should Doncaster be asked to be one of the centres, we will talk to our parent company ARC (Arena Racing Company) and do everything possible to be involved.”

The last fixture to be staged in Wetherby before the coronavirus shutdown was at Wetherby on March 17, although the sport did briefly continue in Ireland until being suspended shortly afterwards.

With all meetings in April cancelled, including this weekend’s Grand National at Aintree, the BHA is keen to continue the sport – even in a curtailed form – to protect income from betting and media rights as well as support jockeys, trainers and all those whose livelihoods depend on regular racing.

There are fears that next month’s Dante festival at York will be called off and the traditional Classics, starting with the Guineas meeting at Newmarket in early May, shunted back into the second half of the year.

Meanwhile the Industry Group co-ordinating racing’s response to coronavirus has presented an operational plan to the Government setting how the sport, which employs 20,000 people and generates £4.1bn for the national economy, can be supported.

It confirms: “We are planning a revised fixture programme that will be flexible enough to respond to local variations in the provision of health services and continuing government restrictions.

“We cannot yet set out a timetable for resumption. No one can. Our ability to keep resources in place, horses exercised and ready to return to action, will be tested. The industry’s leaders would like to give more certainty over dates, but it is too early to do so at present.”

Meanwhile Frankie Dettori, who won last year’s St Leger on the John Gosden-trained Logician, has spoken of his heartbreak as the death toll in his native Italy continues to rise remorselessly.

His elderly mother is in Italy now and the former champion jockey is very concerned for family and friends. He said: “She’s had pneumonia in the past so she has to be really careful, because if she takes to this virus she may not make it through, so I’m a bit concerned about her.

“Dad goes to Morocco in the winter, so he’s in lockdown – he’s 79. So I’ve got parents that have to be careful. It’s a worry for everyone, it’s touched everybody’s lives.

“It seems endless, and every day we hope that you can read something better, but it doesn’t look like it’s letting up. Having friends and family in Italy is a concern.

“Luckily at the moment, touch wood, most of my family are fine – but it’s been three weeks, and they haven’t left the house. A lot of properties in Milan you live in are flats, and a lot of people are kind of confined in their own little prison.

“The mood of the people is good – but it’s getting a bit frustrating because it seems like every day it’s getting worse and worse. We haven’t seen it get any better. We are just praying day by day.”

On the prospect of racing’s resumption here, Dettori’s mood was a sombre one as the uncertainty persists. “I’m doing plenty of walks round my field, I’ve got a gym but it’s very hard to get motivated when you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he added.

“At the moment we’re still in a dark tunnel, we don’t know when we’re going to start.”

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