Racing suspended in Victoria

Horse Racing

Rivals Publishing
March 25, 2020 2:45 pm

Racing Victoria boss Giles Thompson says action in the Australian state has been suspended until Friday due to Covid-19.

Racecards are few and far between across the globe due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Australia has continued to host events with strict protocols.

However, Wednesday’s action in Sandown, Victoria, has been abandoned along with a scheduled card at Warwick Farm in New South Wales.

The decision was taken to put a halt on racing after a participant, who has shown no symptoms, waits on test results after potentially being exposed to Covid-19.

Thompson said: ‘One of our participants had confirmed that they were on a flight that travelled on March 12, a commercial flight, and on that flight there was another passenger completely unrelated that has since been confirmed as a case of Covid-19.

‘As a result, the protocols we’ve got in place have had to kick in and we’ve abandoned this afternoon’s meeting at Sandown (Hillside) after Race 2 and abandoned tomorrow’s meetings at Kilmore and Pakenham.

‘This was 13 days ago that this potential exposure happened/ I just wish to point out that this participant is not displaying any symptoms of Covid-19 at the moment and we will provide a further update tomorrow on how racing may resume on Friday.

‘If the participant’s test is negative, then we will look to resume racing as soon as we can.’