Coronavirus

As Prairie Meadows Racetrack opens its doors for the 2020 season Friday, the Iowa Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association is offering a pair of programs designed to assist its members who might be feeling a financial pinch as a result of the delays caused by the coronavirus. Trainers may apply for $100 in assistance per Thoroughbred racehorse stabled at the Altoona track under the COVID-19 Horsemen's Assistance Program. The deadline to apply for the program is 3 p.m. CT Tuesday, June 30. The Iowa HBPA has also created the COVID-19...

All flat races will return to 48-hour declarations from Wednesday, June 24, the British Horseracing Authority announced on Wednesday. Declarations to run on June 24 must be made by 10 a.m. on June 22. For jumps racing, 48-hour declarations have also been put in place beginning on Wednesday, July 1, so declarations must be made by June 29. Due to the coronavirus, declarations had previously been required 72 hours before a race. The BHA's statement read in part, "This change is only possible due to the support of trainers and...

The first edition of the new Tattersalls August Sale, to be held at Park Paddocks in Newmarket on Aug. 25-26, was announced by the sales company on Wednesday. Comprised of primarily horses and fillies in training, the catalogue will also include some breeding stock and is in a similar mould to the Tattersalls July Sale. "The decision to stage an August Sale is entirely in response to the unique COVID-19 related circumstances we all find ourselves facing," said Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony. "We were acutely aware as we took entries...

Goffs UK and Arqana have released their COVID-19 protocols and medical forms ahead of their joint breeze-up sale on July 1, which will be restricted to those attending in a professional capacity that have pre-registered. The protocols are in line with government guidelines. The auction houses have released an information booklet outlining how the sale will generally work; COVID-19 sale protocols and a COVID-19 registration and medical questionnaire which must be completed and returned by all those attending the sale.

It has been a season of upheaval in Hong Kong, the racing product threatened first by social unrest and then the coronavirus. But for the most part, the Hong Kong Jockey Club has been able to stay the course and Tuesday, it announced across-the-board increases in prize money for the 2020-21 season, including a 20% bump for its domestic centrepiece, the BMW Hong Kong Derby. "At a time when prize money levels are being cut worldwide, the prize money increases announced by the Hong Kong Jockey Club are very welcome...

Royal Ascot, which will feature 36 races for the first time as the coronavirus results in a spectatorless meeting, will reach over 120 countries via television broadcasts, Ascot Racecourse announced on Monday. ITV1 in the UK will display the iconic, five-day meeting, while the royal meeting will also be available in America, Australia, the Middle East, India, the Caribbean and Europe. ITV will cover 30 races on their main channel. Sky Sports Racing, reaching 14 million homes in the UK and Ireland, will broadcast all 36 races, and the Royal...

Despite the lack of spectators throughout its five-day run due to the coronavirus, Royal Ascot will still offer awards for the leading jockey, trainer and owner. Last year's champion jockey Frankie Dettori will face fellow past champion Ryan Moore among others, but unique to 2020, there will be no transferable armband for the leading jockey throughout the meeting. Aidan O'Brien, a 10-time winner of the Leading Trainer Award, faces previous winners Sir Michael Stoute, John Gosden, Mark Johnston and Saeed bin Suroor. Created in 2017, the Royal Ascot Leading Owner...

Prize money levels have been restored to their pre-COVID-19 levels for each race in the Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction Series and the new Irish EBF Median Sires Series, the Irish European Breeders' Fund announced on Monday. Each race series had its prize money cut per race by €1,000 as a result of the coronavirus, but the Irish EBF stepped in to return prize money levels to pre-COVID. There are 10 Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction races and 11 Irish EBF Median Sires races to the beginning of August, with...

Charles Town Races will reopen the first floor of its grandstand for live racing and simulcasting operations beginning June 22 at noon following an order made Sunday by West Virginia Governor Jim Justice allowing patrons at live sporting events starting on that date. Closed to racing spectators since March, Charles Town will also be reopening its trackside apron for live racing programs. Among the safety protocals put in place, the track has implemented signage to encourage social distancing. Mutuel windows and self-service terminals will be configured to meet social distancing...

Jam And Mam (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) was prevented from running at Doncaster on Sunday after one of the members of staff travelling with the horse failed a temperature check. Strict protocols in place on racecourses since the resumption of racing in Britain in June 1 mean all individuals attending a fixture must pass a temperature check, with a threshold of 37.8C. The Archie Watson-trained 3-year-old had been due to run in division one of the Read Andrew Balding On Betway Insider H. A spokesperson for the British Horseracing Authority...

There was a popular aphorism making its rounds through social media in the early stages of the Coronavirus pandemic. "Check on your friends in Lexington; March Madness and Keeneland are cancelled." It's true, Lexington natives experienced a shocking few days early in March when the cancellation of Keeneland's annual Spring Meet occurred just days after the announcement that there would be no NCAA basketball tournament. And while racing fans were certainly disappointed that there would be no tailgating on The Hill or a sunny Saturday afternoon shared between 30,000-some attendees...

In an effort to ensure that all health and safety protocols are in place, officials at Ellis Park in Henderson, Kentucky, announced that they are moving back the scheduled opening day of the season from June 28 to July 2. "We were going to be open one day and then be dark for three days, before picking back up on July 2," said Jeff Inman, Ellis Park's general manager. "Just waiting until July 2 gives us additional valuable time to institute all the safety protocols involved with staging horse racing...