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Racing Resumption Latest: The BHA and racing dealt major blow as government rules no sport until at least June 1

THERE will be no professional sport until at least next month, even behind closed doors.

The news comes as a bitter blow to racing and the BHA, who had hoped to make a comeback in the coming weeks.

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Credit: Getty Images - Getty

Best-case scenario plans outlined by the racing regulator had Group races and Classic trials starting as soon as May 23, with a two week fixture list pencilled in to start when the government gave the green light.

After Boris Johnson's speech on Sunday, the government published a 50 page document today that outlined the three step approach to taking the country out of lockdown.

Professional sport is part of the second phase and states, 'permitting cultural and sporting events to take place behind closed doors for broadcast, while avoiding the risk of large-scale social contact.'

This will not be until June 1 at the earliest and is subject to change depending on the health of the nation.

The BHA - who were due to make a statement today anyway - were not aware of this latest development and have met with the resumption group on Monday to discuss their options.

It's not thought that the sport will try and make its case for an earlier start as has been the case in some jurisdictions.

In a statement, they said: "Senior executives from British horseracing have welcomed the publication of a timeline for the potential resumption of sporting events by the UK government today.

"In its document, Our Plan to Rebuild, the government said it planned for sporting and cultural events to resume behind closed doors as part of the second step of lifting the current restrictions.

"This will take place from Monday 1st June at the earliest. Until this time, it says, restrictions currently in place around such events will continue.

"This date is subject to an assessment by public health officials of the risks posed by the virus at that time and is conditional on the fulfilment of the government’s five tests for easing lockdown measures.

"Racing’s Executive Committee, which includes the British Horseracing Authority, the Racecourse Association, The Racehorse Owners’ Association and the National Trainers Federation, committed to plan for resumption on June 1st.

"They agreed that a timeline setting out what racing would need to do to meet that date will be published within the next seven days."

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"The Resumption of Racing Group will meet later this week and ensure that race planning and the provisional fixture programme, including the scheduling of the Classics and other flagship races, meet the new government timeline.

"Racing has already drawn up plans for resumption based on minimising risk for participants through robust social distancing and strict infection control measures. Discussions with Public Health England and Chief Medical Officers from sports including horseracing will also continue."

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