NEWS of a compensation package from Horse Racing Ireland to racecourses that lose fixtures in 2020, due to the current crisis, has been welcomed by the Association of Irish Racecourses, though the final details of payments have yet to be agreed.

This week HRI chief executive Brian Kavanagh wrote to the racecourses, indicating that a payment of €25,000 will be paid for any fixture lost.

This week HRI confirmed race dates for July and there is now a schedule available for the first two months of Ireland’s return to action, all behind closed doors. All meetings for this period will be either flat or National Hunt, with no mixed programmes planned. With almost 90 meetings lost ahead of racing’s return, the revised programme will hopefully see about two-thirds given a new date.

While the compensation payment is welcome, there is still a serious economic blow to tracks who will have lost media rights payments and other income streams. Even tracks which will race now face a major decline in revenues, with the Galway Festival over seven days being held without paying customers and hospitality.

While many sponsors will continue their support of racing, others could be forced to withdraw due to being impacted by the pandemic.

Racing protocols

To enable racing to be held under the tight new protocols, racecourses are also being subjected to additional spending on their facilities, a cost that is a severe burden on racecourses, no matter what size they are. Likely restrictions on crowd numbers attending racing for the foreseeable future means that the earning potential for Ireland’s 26 courses will be hit hard.

It is still uncertain if all racecourses will be able to provide the necessary infrastructure to race under the new protocols, and may have to forego fixtures.

AIR chairman Conor O’Neill said: “We welcome any proposal to help Irish racecourses that are struggling at this time. It is great to see racing return, but we will need to continue to work closely with HRI and others to guarantee the future of our tracks, spread as they are throughout the island.”