BHA to publish June fixtures later this week

PA Sport Reporters
May 20, 2020 8:00 am

72-hour declarations will be employed when racing restarts.

A fixture list outlining meetings to the end of June will be published by the British Horseracing Authority on Friday, with 72-hour declarations employed until further notice.

The BHA is planning for racing to resume on June 1, subject to Government approval, and last week sent out a programme for the first eight days of action, with the rest of the provisional June schedule to follow this week.

It then intends to publish protocols for racing behind closed doors no later than May 26, with the BHA also outlining steps trainers need to take, including updating employee information and uploading horse vaccination records.

All racecourse attendees will be required to complete an online education module which gives an understanding of Covid-19, social distancing, hand and respiratory hygiene, racecourse protocols and personal protective equipment requirements.

The BHA’s chief medical adviser, Dr Jerry Hill, has been working with his counterparts across major sports to develop a safety protocol for people in roles at greater risk of exposure, with the guidance set to define who must wear some protective equipment while at work.

All racecourse attendees will be required to undergo pre-entry health screening, although the exact process is still in development.

The BHA has also revised its plans concerning juvenile races in the first week of action.

It had been proposed that a select group of trainers would be able to nominate certain two-year-olds to be given priority against elimination from races during the first eight days of racing’s resumption.

The policy has now been extended to include all trainers, following discussions with the National Trainers Federation and the Racehorse Owners Association.

Trainers that did not qualify for priority selections under the initial criteria will now be able to make up to one selection should they feel they have an Ascot prospect.