THE board of Horse Racing Ireland on Thursday announced that horse racing will take place behind closed doors, starting with last night’s meeting at Dundalk and continuing up until March 29th.
It follows Government advice issued on Thursday morning to contain the spread of Covid-19, including an instruction to limit external gatherings to less than 500 people.
After consultation with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and with industry stakeholders, HRI has imposed a number of restrictions on race meetings between now and March 29th to ensure that less than 500 people are on site at each race meeting.
These measures will take immediate effect, with the situation being kept under review.
The restrictions are:
Brian Kavanagh, chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland, said: “It is important that horse racing acts responsibly and plays its part in the efforts to limit the spread of Covid-19. That is why we are announcing, with immediate effect, that horse racing fixtures in Ireland will continue between now and March 29th, but will be run behind closed doors with very restrictive access.
“Race meetings will not be open to the public, in line with measures taken by other international racing jurisdictions, such as France, Hong Kong, Japan and Dubai. Public health is the number one priority and these restrictions will continue be kept under constant review as we liaise with our colleagues in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Health.
“The restrictions will limit social interaction but will allow a vital rural industry to continue to operate, protecting livelihoods and jobs.”
The offices of Horse Racing Ireland will remain open during this time and working from home arrangements will be facilitated wherever possible.
These measures, while inconvenient to many and costly to some stakeholders, at least ensure that the sport continues to operate, with distribution of prize money and opportunities to provide winning opportunities being available. When the present crisis abates, and hopefully comes to a swift end, racing in Ireland will be seen to have played a responsible role in averting what is, after all, a huge human challenge.
Meetings affected by this measure are:
Friday, March 13th: Dundalk
Saturday, March 14th: Navan
Sunday, March 15th: Limerick
Tuesday, March 17th: Down Royal, Wexford
Friday, March 20th: Dundalk
Saturday, March 21st: Thurles
Sunday, March 22nd: Downpatrick
Tuesday, March 24th: Clonmel
Thursday, March 26th: Cork
Friday, March 27th: Dundalk
Saturday, March 28th: Navan
Sunday, March 29th: Curragh
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