Power facing tough calls with travel rules

ROBBIE POWER is praying that strict isolation rules facing travellers amid the Covid-19 outbreak will soon be relaxed in order to help jockeys working on both sides of the Irish Sea when racing resumes next month.

The Grand National and Gold Cup-winning rider regularly makes visits to England to team up with trainer Colin Tizzard but could be denied that opportunity, while Aidan O’Brien’s first jockey Ryan Moore may have to choose between the English and Irish Guineas given the current travel regulations in place.

“If I go to ride in England, when I come back home I’ll have to self-isolate for 14 days. If you’re going to England to race in the Guineas, you won’t want to miss an Irish Guineas or a Group One. That is going to be the most difficult part,” Power wrote in his BoyleSports blog.

“I hope that period passes sooner rather than later and maybe the medical team can work something out. If we get our temperatures taken for 14 days and if anyone showed any signs, they could be stood down for 14 days, which is fair enough.”

Power also called on the racing community to become familiar with the strict protocols which will be in place when Flat racing returns on June 8 at Naas as they initiate the return of live sport on these shores.

Meanwhile, the bumper crowds won’t be present at Royal Ascot next month but there is a bumper programme in place with an extra six races added to the schedule over the five days (June 16-20).

The Royal meeting normally features six races per day but that changes to seven from Tuesday to Friday and eight on Saturday with the new contests consisting of a sextet of handicaps.

To give horses time to recover from running in the English 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas (June 6/7), the St James’s Palace and Coronation Stakes move back to the Saturday.

The Edward VII and Ribblesdale Stakes, previously consolation races for the Derby and Oaks, will now be run on the opening day as trials for those Classics, which have been pushed back to July 4 at Epsom.

Ascot’s communications director Nick Smith described it as “an exceptional renewal” while leading trainer Andrew Balding sees it as “a very positive move and a real help to have more opportunities in a tough year.”

Elsewhere, Meath jockey Robbie Downey has been given the all-clear by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) and is free to ride in Ireland from June 8 onwards.

The 23-year-old has had a tough time since last October when cocaine was found in a urine sample and FranceGalop handed him a six-month ban.