Sport to restart in UK with greyhound race named in honour of NHS workers

Competitive sport will officially return to the UK after the coronavirus lockdown this morning with a greyhound race named in honour of frontline workers.

The government announced on Saturday that domestic professional sport can begin to restart from today (June 1), provided it is staged behind-closed-doors and with strict safety regulations in place.

The ‘Arc Thanks to NHS and Key Workers’ race is the first on Monday’s card at Perry Bar Stadium in Birmingham and is due off at 10:21am, making it the first sporting fixture of any kind to take place in the UK after the ease in restrictions comes into effect.

Later on Monday, horse racing will become the first major UK sport to restart with a bumper ten-race card at Newcastle, the first if which has been named the ‘Welcome Back British Racing Handicap’.

Mark Bird, Managing Director of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, said: “We are hugely excited to be back racing again, albeit behind closed doors for the time being. With canine athletes at the heart of our sport, we were the last show in town in the UK prior to lockdown - we’re delighted and proud to be the first back now too. ​

“As the sport’s regulator, we have spent the past two months planning a safe, effective and phased return for our people and our greyhounds. Racecourses have put in place a whole host of new measures to ensure they are COVID-secure whilst guaranteeing races are still run fairly and safely for everyone involved.”