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Racing in UK set for Newcastle restart as French falter

BRITISH racing remains on course for a June 1 coronavirus comeback – despite the dramatic shutdown of racecourses in Paris. Parislongchamp staged the POST-COVID-19 resumption of racing in France with a bigmoney card 10 days ago.

But the sport met with a shock setback on Tuesday when France Galop announced action in the coronavirus high-risk ‘red zone’ covering Paris and the north east of the country was suspended with immediate effect.

The news triggered fears that the restart in Britain, scheduled for June 1, was in jeopardy as result – with anxiety heightened by the fact that Newcastle, due to host the first fixture back, is in the heart of the region with the highest infection rate.

However, moving to allay concerns yesterday, a British Horseracing Authority spokesman said: “Our proposal has always been that racing will be ready to return safely in Britain as soon as the UK Government permits the resumption of sporting events. “Our plans are being developed with officials from Public Health England and will be in line with UK government policy.

“We are making good progress as we prepare for a resumption on June 1.”

With Parislongchamp unable to host racing, the French 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas will run at Deauville on June 1.

The Normandy course, set in low-risk ‘green zone’, was the venue for the one-mile Classics in 2016 and 2017 while Longchamp was undergoing redevelopment.

Parislongchamp’s cards scheduled for today and Sunday have been switched to Deauville and France Galop’s chief excecutive Olivier Delloye said yesterday: “The French Guineas for the fillies and colts will be run over the straight course, the mile course, at Deauville on June 1.”

A decision on whether racing can return to Paris will be made when the Paris government reappraises lockdown measures at the beginning of next month.

“The Prime Minister [Édouard Philippe] said a few weeks ago that they will proceed with phases lasting three weeks, starting with May 11,” added Delloye.