Horse Racing Ireland chief executive Brian Kavanagh is confident racing can resume in the country “sooner rather than later”.
Racing, like the majority of sports across the world, is currently suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic although there have been signs of a revival over the past week, with French racing set to return on Monday behind closed doors.
Football in Germany has also been given the green light to return, with May 16 confirmed as the return date, and this could be the start of more major sports returning around the globe.
As things stand, racing in Ireland is slated in for a June 29 return but Kavanagh believes that there are grounds for optimism about an earlier return following ongoing talks with the government.
“Prior to March 24, race fixtures were among the last group of Tier 2 commercial activities to continue with 10 fixtures staged safely behind closed doors with only key personnel permitted on site,” he said, as quoted by the Independent.
“The Covid-19 protocols which were in place for those fixtures have been further strengthened in the meantime and we feel that the industry can safely resume sooner rather than later and we will continue to engage with government on that basis.”
