France horse racing has received a boost in its hopes to return to the track as the French government acknowledges that the sport falls under the country’s agriculture department not the sports ministry.
The loophole means racing in the country will get the go-ahead while other major sporting codes remain on pause for some months.
France’s prime minister Edouard Philippe announced on Tuesday that because of the corona virus pandemic, all professional sport would ease until September, however France Galop believes racing will resume on May 11 when the nations restrictions are set to be eased.
“France Galop is not considered as a sport federation, so we are definitely not regulated by all the laws related to sport – we are regulated by the ministry of agriculture,” France Galop chief executive Olivier Delloye told Sky Sports Racing when asked about return of France horse racing.
“So we stick to what our ministers in charge of supervising our industry are telling us and they are telling us you can proceed with racing resumption on May 11, provided you fulfil all the commitments you are taking as far as the security and safety of people involved in racing being respected.
“Basically that means we will of course operate behind closed doors, which we did in early March before the start of the quarantine period.
“Our plan definitely assumes we will race as of mid-May on the Paris racetracks, but having said that if the Paris area proves to be a red one in terms of importance of the virus on May 11, maybe we will have to wait for another three weeks to resume racing in Paris.
“In this situation all the race fixtures might be relocated to Deauville or Chantilly, so we have B plans, C plans and D plans.”
Strict hygiene measures will be enforced meaning racing will go ahead without spectators and a pause on foreign horses and participants until at least the end of May.
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