French authorities
hopeful of May restart
French authorities say they are confident of resuming racing in May behind
closed doors, ahead of a key meeting with the government next week.
Just like the rest of Europe, racing in France has been suspended as a result
of the coronavirus pandemic with the last meeting having taken place without
spectators in March before the country went into lockdown.
Restrictions had initially been due to be lifted on April 15 but on Monday,
France’s President Emmanuel Macron announced the lockdown was to remain in
place until at least May 11, to try to limit the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, the head of France Galop will meet with the Minister for Agriculture
next week to discuss whether racing could resume from May 4 onwards, after the
authorities put together a revised timetable for the season.
France Galop believe they have demonstrated the ability to stage meetings
safely in the past and hopes they will be given the go-ahead to restart racing
next month, an optimistic view which is shared by the trainers in France.
“The big thing is we’re all very anxious that we need to run the horses
for the wellbeing of our owners, our bank accounts, for the punters, the
jockeys and the racecourse. At the same time we understand that this is a
crisis,” Nicolas Clement, president of the French Trainers Association,
told the Racing Post.
“Our activity is outside and we can run with a strict limit of
professionals. We have all the arguments to be accepted and we can be very
disciplined but we’re waiting on the government. Hopefully the French
bureaucracy can answer us quickly.”
Meanwhile, German racing authorities are hopeful they can stage meetings again
from May 1, as the country looks to start lifting restrictions over the next
few weeks.