Horse racing resumes in France, made to wait in Britain

French horse racing resumed on Monday after a break of nearly two months because of coronavirus pandemic, while sport in Britain was me to wait until June 1 at earliest for a restart. Jockeys wore masks or face coverings and re was limited personnel on famed Longchamp Racecourse in western Paris as authorities gave go-ahe for France Galop to st racing without spectators. Strict social distancing and hygiene measures were also in place.

“What satisfaction to see this first race finally arriving,” Olivier Delloye, chief executive of France Galop, said on Twitter alongside a picture of some horses about to enter stalls.

Races were also held at Compiègne in rrn France. France is coming out of lockdown, with nation having been confined since March 17. British government has anunced a plan to grually loosen restrictions in country’s lockdown, but said re can be sporting events until June 1 — and only n without spectators.

British horse racing, which has been on hold since March 17 and h hoped to resume without spectators sometime this month, anunced it was “committed to plan for resumption on June 1." British Horseracing Authority said officials would publish within next seven days a timeline setting out what racing needs to do to achieve that target, and also a provisional program of meetings. 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas, two of five classics of British flat-racing schedule, are due to take place on consecutive days at Newmarket in early June. Racing will only go ahe in Britain, though, subject to an assessment by public health officials.