The BHA have set out some electric provisional plans for racings return on June 1st with the headline showing being on the first weekend of the month where the rescheduled Guineas meeting is set to take place at Newmarket.
The British Horseracing Authority had initially put the Guineas trials to take place on the penultimate weekend in May under its “best-case scenario” planning outlined earlier this month, however, with racing unable to restart until after the 1st of June, Classic contenders will head to Newmarket without a prep run, in what will be one of the strangest renewals of the Group One.
As usual the Guineas meeting will staged over two day with the colts on the Saturday in the 2000 Guineas and the fillies going to battle on the Sunday in the 1000 Guineas, with all racing to take place behind closed doors and under serious social distancing and safety measures.
Such sad news today that we have lost the mighty Deep Impact. A multiple champion sire in Japan, his impact was felt here in Newmarket last year when Saxon Warrior won the QIPCO 2000 Guineas and became his first British Classic winner.
— Newmarket Racecourse (@NewmarketRace) July 30, 2019
🎥 @RacingTV pic.twitter.com/VpV6cKG38w
The Derby is another big meeting that has been discussed in detail by the governing body and it will be scheduled for July 4th with the Coral Eclipse moved back to the Sunday with Epsom and Sandown both being able to keep these big races.
Royal Ascot is also still set for its scheduled position of June 16-20, although there have been talks that some of the races that were initially set to take place will not and that will be confirmed at a later date.
(Credit At The Races) However, the BHA reiterated that “the exact timetable for the resumption of racing will remain subject to agreement from Government and an assessment by public health officials of the risks posed by the virus at that time” and warned “any changes to the timetable are likely to have an impact on the programme for Pattern and Listed races”.
The BHA added that Pattern and Listed races will now also be open to international runners which will be a big step to getting back to normal, depending on how the first trials go.