Coronavirus

A plan for a mass lateral flow COVID-19 testing programme was unveiled by Chester Race Company Ltd. on Monday. The course's goal is to test up to 5,000 attendees per day at the 2021 Boodles May Festival on May 5-7. There would be three separate testing sites, enabling 1,800 lateral flow tests per hour to take place at the racecourse, with all attendees assigned a specific testing site and allocated entry time. There would also be staggered exit times. Fully-socially distanced racing experiences are also in development, so that racing...

Since the start of a crowdfunding effort for Park Lane Stables RDA (Riding for the Diabled), over £362,000 has been raised toward the charity's goal of £1 million generated by Feb. 24. The Teddington-based riding school's landlord is not renewing their lease and is selling the property. The £1 million would go toward the purchase of the property and allow Park Lane Stables to continue its mission of providing therapy and happiness to children and adults with and without disabilities and mental health challenges. Normally, without the COVID-19 pandemic, the...

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that sports arenas and stadiums with a capacity of better than 10,000 can re-open with limited spectators. The first event open to spectators in the state will be the National Basketball Association contest between the Sacramento Kings and Brooklyn Nets at the Barclay Center Feb. 23. The opening of venues will follow the Buffalo Bills pilot program, deemed an "unparalleled success" by Cuomo, following guidelines including Department of Health approval for venues and events, capacity limitations, testing requirements, mandatory face coverings, temperature checks and...

Edited Press Release The Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event CCI Five Star presented by MARS Equestrian™ (LRK3DE), originally cancelled for 2021, will go forward Apr. 22 through Apr. 25 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. The event will take place without spectators. "The uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic placed us in the financially impossible position of having to run the Five Star event without spectators, a situation that left us no choice but to cancel the Five Star for 2021 in order to preserve it for many years to...

In light of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the pattern programme and the campaigns of the best racehorses in 2020, the European Pattern Committee has determined that no pattern or listed races will be upgraded or downgraded in 2021. The 2020 race ratings, additionally, will not be used to compile the three-year average ratings for any pattern or listed races, meaning 2020 will be treated as a gap year in terms of assessing race performances. Races at risk of downgrade will receive a stay in 2021 and will...

The Great British Stallion Showcase 2021 was launched by the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA) and Great British Racing International (GBRI) on Monday. The online format is due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that prevented the TBA's Flat Stallion Parade and the National Hunt Stallion Showcase from taking place this year. Photos and videos of each participating stallion, as well as audio clips from stud managers, pedigree and fees are all available at www.greatbritishstallionshowcase.co.uk. In addition, the stallion pages also include the stallions' British EBF eligibility where appropriate. Following the theme...

Goffs kicks off its 2021 sales season on Tuesday and Wednesday with Part I of its February Sale. Prevailing unprecedented circumstances mean that the mixed sale of yearlings, 2-year-old, fillies and mares and horses in training will take place as a live online auction, with no horses, vendors or purchasers on the grounds at Kildare Paddocks. COVID-19 safety measures late last year meant that Goffs staged its Autumn Horses-In-Training and Yearling sales in the live online format, and the positive results spoke to the resilience of the bloodstock market as...

Julio Canani, a three-time Breeders' Cup-winning trainer who came to America from his native Peru in 1954, died Friday morning at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, California, according to his daughter, Lisa. He was 82. The news was first reported by the Daily Racing Form's Jay Privman, who quoted friends as saying that Canani had been suffering from dementia and had recently contracted COVID-19. He was 16 when he came to America, and worked for a landscape company before heading to the racetrack and taking a job with trainer Tommy...

After a hiatus in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Goffs will stage its London Sale on June 14, on the eve of Royal Ascot. A format and location for the boutique horses-in-training and breeding stock sale will be announced early in the flat season. "Our intention is to hold the London Sale on its scheduled date at the start of Royal Ascot week," said Goffs Group Chief Executive Henry Beeby. "Covid restrictions look set to continue further into 2021, and while it is hoped that the vaccine rollout and...

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was laid bare in Irish racing's 2020 figures, which were revealed by Horse Racing Ireland on Friday. The resilience of owners was a rare bright spot, with ownership remaining static and down just 0.5% in a year where owners largely could not go racing. Owner retention from 2019 to 2020 stood at 73.6%, down 1.5% from the previous year, and the number of racing clubs rose 6%. The number of horses in training in Ireland also rose for the fourth time in five years,...

It's Irad Ortiz, Jr.'s world and we're all just living in it. The 28-year-old from Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico who has grown up into a superstar before the racing world's eyes continued his dominance in 2020, leading to a third consecutive Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey. While his total earnings dipped over $10 million from his 2020 sum, that can be almost entirely attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the cancellation of much of the racing calendar through March and April and dramatic purse cuts that plagued the...

Due to a better-than-expected profit margin generated by the PMU in November and December, France Galop will redistribute €15-million in prizemoney and premiums for races between May 11 and Dec. 31, 2020 that experienced purse cuts. Prizemoney in France dipped by 20% in 2020. The redistribution will take place this week, and France Galop has added a special condition to races taking place from Jan. 28 through Feb. 9 that ensures the additional earnings don't preclude horses from races that they're currently being declared for. With PMU outlets in cafes...