Flat all-weather racing could be first to resume actionBHA cuts monthly budget by £1m during lockdownThe
British Horseracing Authority’s overall plan to steer the sport and industry through the coronavirus pandemic became much clearer in the space of a couple of hours on Friday evening. First, the sport’s ruling body announced plans to strip around £1m from its monthly £3m budget, while shortly afterwards the trainer Ralph Beckett tweeted the text of a letter sent to stakeholders by Brant Dunshea, the BHA’s chief regulatory officer, which included a statement that the Authority’s Resumption of Racing Group “is planning for a resumption from the 1st of May”.
All British racing was suspended on 17 March after a short-lived attempt to run meetings behind closed doors. The country has since moved into strict lockdown amid increasingly severe controls on commercial activity, movement and social distancing, in anticipation of an expected peak in Covid-19 cases in two to three weeks’ time. As a result, many in the sport have assumed that the initial suspension of racing until 30 April would inevitably be extended.