Racing in 2020
New
ORDER A collective sigh of relief was felt when British
racing resumed at the start of June yet the impact of Covid-19 on the sport’s future remains uncertain with this year set to look unlike any other on record Words: Andrew Scutts of the Racing Post
A
fter racing’s resumption in France, Germany and Italy, we saw the new normal for European racing on television or in pictures. Facemasks, social distancing, empty racecourses. In June we witnessed the impact of Covid-19 on British racing, the Flat season finally getting under way some 63 days later than it should have done. Surreal has replaced real in everyday life, but while racing’s uprooted fixture list is taking some getting to grips with, the experience of watching the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas from Newmarket was perhaps not so very different. We didn’t hear any cheering, it’s true, but then the crowd factor has never been a synonymous feature of racing on the Rowley Mile. Facemasks aside, there were plenty of familiar, comforting aspects. The two Classics had a supporting cast that included the Palace House, Pretty Polly Stakes, Dahlia Stakes and Newmarket
On your marks: social distancing at the races will continue to be a theme throughout 2020 and possibly longer
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THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER
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11/06/2020 15:54
