WITH the news this week that the Tramore Festival in August and Listowel and Irish Champions Weekend in September are to be held behind closed doors, I caught up with the Association of Irish Racecourses’ CEO Paddy Walsh to find out how racecourses in general are faring at this time.

“We have now been back racing, albeit behind closed doors, for nearly seven weeks. In that time, 18 racecourses have held 64 fixtures between them. All have gone off successfully and adherence to the protocols has ensured that there were no instances of the Covid-19 virus being attributed to the holding of those fixtures,” Paddy was happy to report.

He added: “Given that we were one of the first major sports to be allowed to resume, great credit is due to all concerned for this achievement. Our racecourse managers and their teams can be extremely proud of their contribution to getting the show back on the road. Adapting procedures, installing equipment, ensuring adherence to the new protocols, changing the entire way that a race meeting is run and more were all significant challenges to which they all rose admirably.

“Horse Racing Ireland and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board also did a good job in drafting the protocols, effectively, from scratch as they had no template to follow. The net result of all our efforts is that we continue to race while many other sports and industries are still struggling to get off the ground.

“However, in these situations there is no room for complacency and we all need to continue to be vigilant in our adherence to the protocols. This is particularly so as we start to relax the restrictions on those who are allowed entry, beginning with two owners per horse from August 10th. At the moment we have no firm indication from Government as to when we can further expand the numbers attending, or when we can ultimately expect to get back to ‘normal’.”

Paddy agrees that the triple whammy of no paying customers at three iconic festivals in August and September is a further setback. “Of course it is disappointing – not just for the racecourses concerned but for all those involved in the industry and our many supporters who would normally attend such festival meetings in great numbers. However, we understand that the health of the nation has to take priority over our ability to have crowds in attendance at our racecourses and we remain committed to following all the guidelines laid down by the Government in this regard.

“The sooner that we are in a position to welcome crowds back to attend racing the better. The lack of a definitive date as to when that might happen is, of course, a worry for us all. However, other than rigorously applying the current protocols to ensure that we can continue to race safely behind closed doors, there is very little that we can do as the behaviour of the virus and its effect on our business is largely outside our control.

“We can take some comfort from the relatively positive way in which the virus has been handled in this country to date and we can also hold out some hope that the legions of scientists worldwide who are seeking a vaccine or treatment may come up with some positive news in the coming weeks and months.

“However, there is little doubt that the loss of so many of our traditional income streams puts additional financial pressure on all our racecourses. It is also clear that those racecourses that stage the larger festival-type racemeetings that attract significant crowds will suffer the most from the loss of such income. We are fortunate that we still have income from media rights, without which we would simply not be in a position to continue to race.

“Racecourses have shown their willingness to continue racing behind closed doors in order to keep the show on the road and to protect employment within the industry, despite the loss of income I have already referred to. However, no business can survive in the long term when operating at a loss and the longer the restrictions arising from the Covid-19 situation remain in place, the greater the financial pressure on our racecourses.

“Racecourses are very appreciative of the Covid-19 cancellation grants [from HRI] that were paid where racecourses were not in a position to hold their fixtures, and the other aspects of the HRI financial supports, such as loan finance, are helpful to those racecourses who are in a position to avail of them. We continue to monitor the situation and work closely with our colleagues in HRI to ensure that, together, we can minimise the potential financial damage that could otherwise be caused to our racecourses, thereby undermining a core infrastructure at the very heart of the horseracing and breeding industry.”