Horse racing given green light to restart on June 1 after coronavirus shutdown

Horse racing is set to become the first major UK sport to return from its coronavirus shutdown after the government gave the green light to Monday’s planned resumption.

The British Horseracing Authority has been targeting a June 1 comeback behind-closed-doors ever since Prime Minister Boris Johnson earmarked that as the earliest possible date for professional sport to restart earlier this month.

Monday’s eight-race card at Newcastle received a whopping 369 entries, with trainers keen to make up for lost time having seen the start of the Flat season delayed by more than two months because of the pandemic.

An action-packed resumption is planned, with the Coronation Cup to be run at Newmarket on Friday before the first two Classics of the season – the 1000 and 2000 Guineas – are held at the same track over the weekend.

Royal Ascot is scheduled to take place from June 16-20, while the Derby and Oaks are provisionally slated to be run on the same day at Epsom on July 4.

The last meetings held in the UK were on March 17, a week after the National Hunt season’s showpiece, the Cheltenham Festival, with Aintree’s Grand National meeting in early April cancelled.

Jumps racing has already been suspended by the BHA until at least July 1 to allow the Flat campaign to take precedence during what should be the core of its season.

Racing in Ireland has been given government approval to restart from June 8, while French racing has already returned, though it was subsequently re-banned in areas worst affected by the outbreak.