The BHA announced this week that they have delayed the return of racing indefinitely due to the extended ‘lockdown’ period. However, the plan is for flat racing to resume once the lockdown has been lifted (whenever that may be) and jump racing is still set to start on 1st July. So, if lockdown continues until 1st June, jump racing is still set to start on 1st July. Therefore, the latest announcement doesn’t really impact on our summer jumping plans. To that end, we’re going to start the core summer jumpers back into work next week, in order for them to be ready to run in early July.
The BHA also announced a financial support package from the Levy Board and the Racing Foundation, which I had hoped was going to give some financial relief for owners off their monthly bill for April but regrettably, due to the funding bodies’ budgetary and constitutional constraints, it was not possible for this measure to be supported. The package is therefore focussed on loans for immediate cash flow, and grants for financial hardship and to protect horse welfare. How this necessarily helps remains to be seen……
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