Ireland’s attempt to continue racing behind closed doors during the coronavirus crisis came to an abrupt end on Tuesday when Leo Varadkar, the country’s prime minister, announced that all sporting events would be cancelled from Wednesday as part of further measures to control the spread of the virus. The country’s betting shops will also be closed.
Ireland had staged one meeting each day behind closed doors since Friday after Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), which administers the sport both north and south of the border, decided last week to continue racing with strict measures in place to ensure physical distancing.
The Irish Flat season on turf got under way at Naas on Monday but the latest restriction, which is due to be in place until 19 April, will mean the cancellation of both the Irish Lincolnshire on the Flat this weekend and the Irish Grand National meeting at Fairyhouse over the Easter weekend on 12 and 13 April. Prospects for the five-day Punchestown Festival, the climax to the Irish jumping season which is due to open on 28 April, also seem increasingly bleak.
Ireland had been the only major racing nation in Europe still staging meetings after the BHA decided to suspend the British programme until at least 1 May last Tuesday. France, which had raced behind closed doors from early March, suspended all meetings until mid-April a day earlier.
South Africa, which had also been staging regular meetings behind closed doors in recent days, also announced on Tuesday that racing in the country will end from Friday for at least three weeks.
“Everyone has to do their job,” Gordon Elliott, the trainer of dual Grand National winner Tiger Roll, said on Tuesday. “If we get back after a month, it won’t be the end of the world. Everybody is going to have to tighten up and hopefully we’ll get through it OK.”
HRI issued a brief statement on Tuesday, confirming that all racing in the country would cease “as of midnight tonight as per the latest Government guidelines on Covid-19”.
It added: “The Board of Horse Racing Ireland will meet tomorrow morning and will issue a press release soon after.”