Update Published : 16th May 2020

Racing in the UK has been scheduled to return on Monday 1st June, with the first proposed meeting to take place at Newcastle.

It's reassuring to see a return to racing so close to home, with Newcastle racecourse being just a few miles from where I live, even if I'm unable to attend until the "behind closed doors" policy is lifted.

Depending on the source of information, June 1st either sounds like a 100% confirmed resumption date, or still rather uncertain. To get closer to the truth, I took another look at Betfair's "UK Racing To Resume On Or Before June 1st" market; at time or writing, YES is currently trading at 1.36.

Based on this, no guarantees or promises can be made, but it seems likely that June 1st will indeed be the resumption date.

The BHA has recently published the following fixture list:

The first eight days: BHA's proposed fixture list

June 1 Newcastle
June 2 Kempton, Newcastle
June 3 Kempton, Yarmouth
June 4 Newcastle, Newmarket
June 5 Lingfield, Newmarket
June 6 Lingfield, Newcastle, Newmarket
June 7 Haydock, Lingfield, Newmarket
June 8 Chelmsford, Haydock, Lingfield

The 2,000 Guineas will be held on Saturday June 6 and the 1,000 Guineas on the following day. It was confirmed on Thursday that the Lockinge Stakes will not be rearranged, making it the only Group 1 to be cancelled in Britain this season.

It's also encouraging to note that Royal Ascot is also likely to get the green light; a YES decision is also currently trading at 1.36 on Betfair.

In other news, Irish racing looks to be following suit, with the resumption date recently brought forward to Monday 8th June.

Update Published : 12th May 2020

Hopes of resuming UK racing this month were dealt a blow following news from the Government that there would be no professional sport, even behind closed doors, in England until at least June 1st.

The Government’s road map for exiting lockdown, was published on Monday afternoon and set out the conditions under which various activities can be safely carried out. Step two of the road map, which cannot begin any earlier than June 1, includes “permitting cultural and sporting events to take place behind closed-doors for broadcast, while avoiding the risk of large-scale social contact”.

British racing’s executive committee has therefore “committed to plan for resumption” of the sport on June 1.

Both Germany and France have now been added to the list of countries with racing going ahead behind closed doors, and this begs the question why the English and Irish government have not followed suit.

Prominent trainers such as Richard Hughes believes racing was in a position to safely resume behind closed doors:

"It would be safer to go to Lingfield Park than Hyde Park and it will be policed," he said. "I can't see what is stopping a resumption. It may be a sport for some but for those in racing it's an industry. It's worked behind closed doors in other countries and the limited number of people going to the tracks would take their responsibilities very seriously. I really cannot see where the stumbling block is, nor how we would be putting people in jeopardy."

As it stands, the resumption of racing group continues to plan for the sport's return and recently published a provisional race programme for the first seven days of fixtures, which will be divided regionally as follows:

In numbers: fixture programme for the first seven days

13 meetings – 7 in the South, 4 in the North, 2 in the Midlands
104 races
75 handicaps
12 two-year-old races
17 maiden or novice races for three-year-olds or over
8 races for each meeting

The BHA’s public affairs team continues to liaise with politicians and officials in Scotland and Wales to progress resumption at the earliest opportunity.

In contrast, in was confirmed last week that Horse Racing Ireland are currently working towards a resumption date of June 29th.

Published: 4th May 2020

Following positive meetings with government officials last week, racing in Britain is currently working towards a resumption date of May 15th.

There has been a lot of speculation in recent weeks as to when Horse Racing will return to Britain and Ireland, and here at Lucrative Racing been watching from the sidelines for signs of a confirmed date. No doubt you my have been doing the same, but unfortunately there has been little clarity up to now with the country still officially on lock-down.

However, yesterday it was announced that the BHA are confident action can take place within a week of any clearance being given, with May 15th being the earliest start date if the government agrees to allow racing to continue "behind closed doors" this week.

It's important to state that, at time of writing, this is very much a best-case scenario and hangs on the governments decision. However, the odds for Betfair's "UK racing to resume before June 1st" market are currently 1.54, meaning the odds are in our favour that we'll see a return to action this month.

Furthermore, we could be in store for two weekends of "Blockbuster" action if racing does indeed resume mid-month.

The "best-case scenario" plans, developed by a sub-group of the Flat Pattern Committee, involve the running of several high-profile stakes races in the lead-up to the first Classics of the season, the Qipco 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas, on the first weekend in June.

Should racing be cleared to resume by the middle of the month, a number of the races deemed most important will take place on the weekend of May 23-24 and May 30-31 and most likely be restricted to domestic runners only.

Here's the "best case scenario" for major races, as published on the Racing Post website:

Provisional Horse Racing Fixtures For The Last Two Weekends In May:

Weekend 1 – May 23-24
Pavilion (6f, 3yo, Group 3)                            
Nell Gwyn (7f, 3yo, f, Group 3)
Craven (1m, 3yo, c&g, Group 3)
Greenham (7f, 3yo, c&g, Group 3)
Fred Darling (1m, 3yo, f, Group 3)
Brigadier Gerard (1m2f, 4+, Group 3)
Conqueror (1m, 4+, f, Listed)                       
Pinnacle (1m4f, 4+, f, Group 3)
Sagaro (2m, 4+, Group 3)                            
Aston Park (1m4f, 4+, Group 3)
Paradise Stakes (1m, 4+, Listed)

Weekend 2 – May 30-31
Lockinge (1m, 4+, Group 1)                            
Palace House (5½f, 3+, Group 3)
Yorkshire Cup (1m6f, 4+, Group 2)
Dante (1m2f, 3yo, Group 2)                            
Musidora (1m2f, 3yo, f, Group 3)
Cecil Frail (6f, 3+, f, Listed)
Spring Trophy (7f, 3+, Group 3)
Middleton (1m2f, 4+, f Group 2)

Provisional Horse Racing Fixtures For The First Weekend Of June:

2,000 Guineas (1m, 3yo, c&f, Group 1)
1,000 Guineas (1m, 3yo, f, Group 1)
Coronation Cup (1m4f, 4+, Group 1)
Pretty Polly (1m2f, 3yo, f, Listed)                       
Newmarket Stakes (1m2f, 3yo, c&g, Listed)
Bronte Cup (1m6f, 4+, f, Group 3)

The resume date for Irish Horse Racing is less clear at this stage, with potential dates ranging from a best-case of May 18th, but potentially as late as June 29th. Hopefully we'll receive some further clarification this week.

Currently, the first three Irish racing classics - the Irish 2,000 Guineas (May 23), Irish 1,000 Guineas (May 24) and Irish Derby (June 27) - are still scheduled to run at Curragh, assuming the Irish Racing Board is given the go ahead.