Irish Racing Set To Resume On June 8: It’s been a very good week for European racing fans. Racing in France returned behind closed, England are planning to start racing on June 1 and now Irish racing has been given the green light to resume behind closed doors from June 8.
When the Irish government first released their roadmap it looked like there would be no racing until June 29th at the earliest but the HRI have been working with the government to bring that date forward.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said “Horseracing was never specifically mentioned in the plan we agreed back in April but now it is. Horseracing, behind closed doors, will be allowed to continue from June 8 and that’s just taking into account what’s happening in the UK and France.”
Varadkar added: “This is a big economic sector, a lot of people are employed in it and it’s worth nearly half a billion euros to the economy each year. Because people won’t be able to travel to race meetings, the amount of movements happening are going to be limited.
“It’s people travelling to and from their workplace essentially. It won’t be open to spectators for the foreseeable future but it’s a big economic sector with a lot of jobs and income. We need to be more or less aligned with what’s happening in the UK and France in that regard.”
Ireland was always going to come under pressure given racing was already back in France, and coming back in England. The HRI already has plenty of experience racing behind closed doors as they were one of the last sports to stop and they have improved their plan with new protocols.
All attendees will be subject to a health screening and temperature checks on arrival, while there will be mandatory face coverings for jockeys, stall handlers and those working at the track.
The Irish racing industry received another boost when it was announced that International horses could run in the English 2000 and 1000 Guineas at the start of June, however whether many travel remains to be seen given the worldwide travel situation.
☘️ Our Irish tipping column SHAMROCK will resume on June 8th.
