Racing will resume when appropriate & safe to do so

Brian Kavanagh, the Chief Executive of Horse Racing Ireland, said in an interview yesterday on Racing TV that his organisation is in constant contact with the Government and has indicated to them that the industry is racing ready and would like to get back when its' appropriate and safe to do.

Kavanagh said: "When the current lockdown is due to end on 4th May it will have been six weeks since we had our last race meeting. It's entirely a medical matter at this point. It's up to the Chief Medical officer and Government authorities.

"They have been really supportive of us all through the process. They encouraged us to keep racing behind closed doors before the full shutdown and have been very helpful to keep the breeding industry going during this full lockdown.

"Breeding horses and Training horses were specifically listed in the list of essential services that could continue during the lockdown.

"The Government will be guided by the Medical Officers. We've told them that we are racing ready. We'd like to get back when it's appropriate and safe to do so. And we can get back behind closed doors at reasonably short notice.

"It's very hard to put a date on that but certainly I would say the Government policy on this with regard to racing and other industries has been to try whatever they can to keep things going if it's a safe situation to do so.

"We are in constant contact with them and next week will be a critical week in terms of trying to establish how we're going forward.

"The Government has been very cautious and competent in the way they have addressed this issue and we have followed the medical advice all the way through the process and continue to do so.

"The ten meetings which we had behind closed doors will stand to us. We had a lot of learnings and people could see that it could be done in a safe manner,

"We have indicated that we would be prepared to race behind closed doors for as long as the Government has a policy in place prohibiting mass gatherings.

Regarding the prospect of running the Irish Classic on their scheduled dates Kavanagh said: "At the moment we haven't changed the dates for the Irish Classics which I think is probably the first key decision to take.

"Obviously we will have lost six week's racing including two major Festivals at Fairyhouse and Punchestown and we've said what we'll do about them in the Autumn,

"With regard to the Flat side of things, at this point, and if we're to resume soon after the 4th May, I think you could still run the Classics on their scheduled dates which are the 23rd and 24th May.

"That's important because if you have to don't have to change them it doesn't have a knock-on effect on the other Irish Group 1 races later in the year.

"If we didn't come back immediately after the 4th May you then probably would have to look at moving back those Classic to allow for a prep run.