Cover image courtesy of Sharon Lee Chapman

Magic Millions moves sales to July

Magic Millions has confirmed it will now hold the 2020 National Broodmare and Weanling Sale and its 2020 National Yearling Sale in July.

The government protocols surrounding the prevention of the spread of COVID-19 have caused changes in all aspects of the thoroughbred industry and Magic Millions has decided its traditional breeding stock and yearling sales will be pushed back.

The National Broodmare and Weanling Sale will now be held on the Gold Coast from July 20 until July 24, while the National Yearling Sale has been moved to be held July 28 to July 30.

The dates are provisional at this stage and the progress of the sales will depend on government approval. Magic Millions has also indicated it is willing to move the sales online or to another location if required.

"All of our team here at Magic Millions respect the fact that you, our clients, are concerned about sales changes and market adjustments. Just be assured that we are looking to adjust these to do the best thing by you," Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch said in a message to vendors.

"It's our obligation to you to hold the best auction we possibly can to provide you with the best opportunity to sell your horse. To assist you in planning, we have put together a tentative sales schedule which can be seen on our website or social media channels."

New Zealand pencils comeback date

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing has earmarked July 1 as a possible return to racing in the country, which is currently under a four-week lockdown as a consequence of COVID-19.

NZTR conducted a board meeting on Tuesday night where a timetable for racing's return was confirmed based on Level 4 restrictions currently in place only lasting four weeks.

An indicative four-month calendar has been developed, which confirmed:

- If training is able to resume in May, we anticipate trialling in late June with race dates from 1 July

- Building from a single meeting per week in each region in July

- A focus on racing near the horse population in early months and building to wider venue use by late Spring

- Incentives being explored to get horses to the races rather than multiple trials

- The removal of nomination and acceptance fees during the initial period

- A program that needs to be flexible, with races over shorter distances initially

- No reduction to the minimum stake but a flatter stake model across the board initially to ensure wider distribution of funds to owners

- A return to jumps racing is likely for Northern region but unlikely for South due to likely travel restrictions

- The scheduling of Group and Listed races and reviewing the pattern has been discussed and the recognition that travel restrictions will require a new way of thinking

"The full impact on stake allocations will be known once we have the full picture from RITA and the Government," the statement, signed by Chairman Dr Alan Jackson and CEO Bernard Saundry, said.

NZTR also confirmed that has reduced payroll and contractor costs by 20 per cent since the shutdown of racing including the salaries of Board members by 100 per cent and the CEO by 25 per cent.

It has also commenced the development of enhancing the protocols and actions required when a return to racing and training is possible under the Government Alert level system, worked with RITA and the Government in providing data and information on how NZTR wants racing to resume with an appropriate funding model and conducted phone and video conferences with stakeholders and club representatives to provide information.

"NZTR’s priority is to recommence racing as soon as possible to maintain employment within our sport and to distribute much needed funds for our participants," the statement said.

"We are also very aware that you are all working hard to maintain equine welfare at the highest level."

Melbourne Cup planning still on track

The Victoria Racing Club is intent on staging the 2020 G1 Melbourne Cup, saying at this stage it would not be postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

As racing continues throughout Australia despite a shutdown of many other industries, VRC Chief Executive Neil Wilson told RSN that the club would be prepared to run the iconic race behind closed doors if it had to.

"Obviously that would be a disappointing outcome not to have the crowds there, but a more disappointing outcome is that the COVID-19 safety position is such that we can't run the Cup at all," he said.

"Certainly our goal is this year we have a Melbourne Cup and we are certainly looking for the first Tuesday of November to be the date that it is run."

Wilson said it was likely the current Melbourne Cup prizemoney level of $8 million would be reviewed, but it had not yet conceded it wouldn't feature international contenders.

"Regardless of whether there is a strong, or any, international contingent, we'll have a great field," Wilson said.

"Maybe that's the characteristic of this year's Cup, that Australian feel of getting back into the game with an Australian Melbourne Cup.

"We are looking to make this a very special day, a special week, and it comes on the back of a very difficult time for a lot of people."

Hawkesbury, Gosford, Scone set to lose standalone meetings

Standalone race meetings at Gosford, Hawkesbury and Scone won't be run in April and May as Racing NSW makes changes to its schedule to minimise risks.

Racing NSW Chief Executive Peter V'landys confirmed on Sky Racing that those meetings would be replaced by metropolitan meetings in Sydney as part of protocols in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

"The majority of the horses come from the metropolitan areas so we need to have the least amount of travel," he said. "We have the highest biosecurity measures in the metropolitan area so we will conduct those meetings in the metropolitan area. The clubs would have made significant losses running them with no crowd so it is better just to run them in the metropolitan area."

Hawkesbury was scheduled to host its Cup meeting on April 25, while Gosford's Gold Cup meeting on May 9 and Scone's meeting on May 15 are also set to be impacted.

Warrnambool carnival changes confirmed

Racing Victoria has confirmed the Warrnambool May Carnival, usually conducted over three days, will be a two-day carnival in 2020.

The decision to restructure the program was made in light of the impacts of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, with racing being conducted in Victoria under strict biosecurity protocols. It had already been confirmed that this year’s May Carnival would be closed to all spectators, including members, owners and the general public.

The first day of the meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 5 and features the historic Grand Annual Steeplechase as part of an eight-race jumps program.

The Brierly Steeplechase and Galleywood Hurdle will also feature on what shapes as one of the biggest jumps racing program ever conducted in Victoria.

The second day, to be held on Wednesday, May 6, will feature two Listed events, the Warrnambool Cup and the Wangoom H.

“With the strict biosecurity protocols in place to allow for the continuation of racing in Victoria without crowds, we have had to re-imagine this year’s May Carnival to provide a program that minimises risks, community interaction and the number of essential staff to deliver the event," RV Executive General Manager – Racing, Greg Carpenter, said.

“In consultation with the Club, CRV and AJRA, we have determined that a two-day May Carnival with one meeting exclusive to jumps racing and the other to flat racing is the safest format to ensure that we can still conduct Warrnambool’s iconic races.

“The revamped program assists with the logistics of conducting the event, allows us to segregate our jumps and flat jockeys, and significantly reduces the number of participants that need to stay in Warrnambool, which is again unfortunate for local businesses, but a responsible measure for the industry to take.

“It is going to be fascinating to watch what is expected to be our biggest ever jumps racing meeting on Tuesday, 5 May with the famous Grand Annual Steeplechase, Brierly Steeplechase and Galleywood Hurdle all conducted on the one program for the first time.”

RA committed to ongoing racing

Racing Australia has emphasised its commitment to working with the state-based PRAs to ensure racing continues across Australia during the COVID-19 crisis.

RA has been undertaking analysis and advocacy on behalf of the industry, speaking with government and determining the economic impacts across the industry, which it has assessed as worth nearly $10 billion to the Australian economy, contributing around 75,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

“We understand that the federal and state governments have to act in the national interest and protect the welfare of its citizens and we totally support the actions that governments are undertaking. We also make the commitment that our industry will do everything within its power to comply with all the changes that are being enforced by both the federal, state and territory governments," Racing Australia Chairman Greg Nichols said.

RA confirmed its commitment to maintaining global-leading standards of equine welfare as well as the health and safety of participants.

"Racing Australia will continue to be uncompromising in its resolve to achieve full conformance of measures authorised by the National Cabinet and be pro-active in implementing additional stringent measures that augment the National Cabinet’s initiatives," the statement said.

Latest from Europe, the UK and Ireland

Courtesy TDN Europe

Tate backs resumption at Newmarket

James Tate believes Newmarket is the ideal location for racing to take place behind closed doors–if and when the British Horseracing Authority is able to resume the fixture list.

The Newmarket trainer is confident meetings could be staged on the Rowley Mile under a phased return which would reflect any easing of the COVID-19 measures currently in place.

Prospects of racing –which has been placed on lockdown by the BHA until the end of April at least –were given a glimmer of hope on Friday after a letter issued to stakeholders by the Resumption of Racing Group suggested work was being carried out so the sport could start up again on May 1.

Although not confirmed, one idea mooted has been the introduction of a number of regional racing centres–of which Newmarket might be one.

Tate said, “I would be behind racing returning to Newmarket–because with everything applied, it would be a sensible place to have a meeting before anywhere else.

“You could run a meeting with Newmarket-based trainers and only use professional jockeys–and that could just be Newmarket-based ones, because nobody would have to travel far or stay over either.”

Latest from USA

Courtesy of TDN America

Castellano details coronavirus fight

For Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, the hard part of having the coronavirus has not been the physical effects. Relatively young at 42-years-old and in peak physical condition, Castellano said he feels “great” and considers himself to be “very lucky and very fortunate.”

But that doesn’t mean the coronavirus didn’t beat him up, just in other ways. Castellano said Tuesday that the mental toll COVID-19 took on him was substantial and the hardest part of his ordeal.

“This has been one of toughest challenges I have faced in my life,” he said. “That’s because I didn’t know what to do, what to say. They said I would not have any symptoms for the first couple of days but later on it was going to catch up to me. That’s the worst. When you go to sleep, you worry about whether you’ll be able to breathe, whether you need to go to the hospital. Then if you go to the hospital you have to be isolated and nobody could have seen me. I didn’t know what to think. The problem has been much more mental than physical. I felt fine all along, but I knew that could change.”

Santa Anita closed, Derby postponed

Santa Anita Park announced Tuesday that it will remain closed for live racing through at least the weekend, prompting the postponement of the G1 Santa Anita Derby and G2 Santa Anita Oaks, which where scheduled for this Saturday, April 4, to an undetermined date later in the meet.

Racing was halted at Santa Anita last Friday on orders of the Los Angeles County Health Department, which has closed all businesses deemed non-essential in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been no known cases of COVID-19 at Santa Anita Park at this time.

“At Santa Anita Park, the health, safety and welfare of every person and every horse in our community remains our top priority,” read a release from the track. “We are continuing to have constructive dialogue with the LA County Health Department and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and her staff. In cooperation with our industry stake holders, a proposal was submitted earlier this week which we believe was fully responsive to their requests. We have yet to receive a satisfactory response to that proposal.

Ohio extends racing ban

The Ohio State Racing Commission (OSRC) issued a directive effective March 31 mandating that Thoroughbred and Standardbred tracks remain closed for live racing through April 30 while stipulating that backstretch facilities at venues where meets were already in progress have to stay “open and operational until further notice.”

At this time of year, Mahoning Valley Race Course is the only Thoroughbred track open in Ohio. Live racing was last held there March 18.

The OSRC’s directive was issued on the heels of horsemen at Mahoning Valley receiving notice from track management on Monday that all horses and humans had to be off the premises by April 7 at midnight in an effort to clear out the backstretch as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.