Longchamp – racing returns on Monday
RACING will definitely resume in France in two days time after a tense 24 hours negotiations between the French Government and France Galop.
Most of the obstacles seemed to have been cleared for racing to go ahead behind closed doors when some objections were lodged to the Macron Government at the eleventh hour. There have been stories floating around in the French media that some associated with French football (banned as are all team sports in the country until September) were asking the Government to have a second look at racing and whether it should proceed.
Racing in France falls under the auspices of the Agriculture Ministry and not Sport, which is why it has been treated differently. Fortunately for racing, Macron and his team have given the green light and three meetings will take place at Longchamp, Compiegne and Toulouse on Monday 11 May. The Longchamp card comprises 10 races including four Group contests with a total of 129 horses declared on the whole card. The three meetings had attracted over 1,000 entries!
Only French trained horses and French-based jockeys can compete as restrictions are still in place for foreign horses and jockeys to travel.
German racing resumed on Thursday at Hanover with a 12-race card which included three Listed races and 152 runners. Interestingly, the biggest fields were two 16-runner handicaps and one of the races at Longchamp on Monday is due to have 18 runners. Plans for British racing to resume are likely to restrict runners to a maximum of 12 per race initially.
British racing will have been buoyed by events across the Channel and although the Prime Minister is expected to announce maybe some small loosening of current lockdown arrangements and a roadmap for the future, there is a feeling within British racing that it probably won’t start until June.
The good news is that the BHA has an initial seven-day plan in place as soon as racing can go ahead.
