Counting down the days until Chepstow meet

THE countdown is on for the first race meeting in Wales to take place behind closed doors at Chepstow next Monday.

It is one of 12 meetings taking place at the track in June, July and August without crowds due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

All the races will be shown live on Sky Sports Racing. A decision about plans for meetings from September onwards will be made in due course. There are no fixtures at Ffos Las until October.

There is a long list of protocols and procedures for the course management to adhere to and these have been aligned with the government’s guidance for the return of elite sports behind closed doors.

Those attending must complete a three-stage screening process, including an online training module, medical questionnaire and temperature checks on arrival. Social distancing officials will be in place to ensure that the new procedures are strictly followed and the appropriate PPE will be worn.

Last weekend, the first major meetings to take place behind closed doors – the 2000 and 1000 Guineas – were staged at Newmarket. The audience for ITV Racing was always likely to increase significantly and the number watching the 2000 Guineas was just under 1.5m, almost double last year’s viewing figures.

Next week it’s Royal Ascot, where viewing figures are again expected to be strong.

One jockey who had a frustrating weekend was Welsh rider David Probert. He’s ridden 999 career winners in the UK and had several chances to hit the magic 1,000. He failed by a whisker at Haydock on Kipps, trained by Hughie Morrison.

Probert was born in Bargoed in 1988. He took up pony racing at an early age and at 16 went to the British Racing School at Newmarket. From there he joined Andrew Balding’s stable as an apprentice, but had just a single ride in 2006 and only one winner from 46 attempts the following year.

However, in 2008 he rode 50 winners to become joint-champion apprentice with William Buick. He’s never ridden fewer than that number in any subsequent season. Last year he was crowned Jockey of the Year at the Welsh Horse Racing Awards, and he finished the year with a personal best of 112 winners.