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Coronavirus latest: Hugo Palmer calls on racing to unite as Covid-19 crisis causes the sport to close down

, Coronavirus latest: Hugo Palmer calls on racing to unite as Covid-19 crisis causes the sport to close down

  1. CLASSIC-winning trainer Hugo Palmer has called on racing to unite as the coronavirus crisis deepens.

The industry was dealt a major blow on Tuesday with the announcement that all racing will be cancelled until the end of April, effective tomorrow.

Hugo Palmer is confident racing can pull together to get through the current virus crisis

That will likely put tremendous financial pressure on yards, jockeys and racecourses, while bookies expect to lose out on tens of millions.

But Palmer is confident that day-to-day operations in Newmarket, which is home to around 70 yards, will be unaffected in the short-term.

He told Sun Racing: “At the minute the general feeling in racing is that we are all in this together.

“There was a hope that racing could continue behind closed doors but that would only have lasted until one of the participants got sick.

“The BHA have changed their mind about that policy, but in many ways those of us who work in racing are quite lucky in that we work outside in the fresh air. While we see people everyday, we aren’t in an air-conditioned office coughing and spluttering on people.

“We might be giving ourselves a chance of not being too badly affected on a personal basis.

“I have just written to all my owners to tell them that my intention is to have the horses ready to hit the ground running and in good form when racing does resume.

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“There is no guarantee that we are going to have horse racing on 1 May, but that is my intention and I believe that is everyone in racing’s intention. We need to stick together.

“As a trainer and a business owner, my plan is to carry on training my horses for my clients and have them absolutely ready to rock and roll when the time comes.

“Provided my clients continue are able to pay me to do my job, then I will be able to continue to pay the people that work for me to continue to do their job. I don’t envisage many owners saying ‘send my horses home’.”

Palmer, who enjoyed 2000 Guineas success with Galileo Gold in 2016, said there are currently no restrictions in place in regards to the continued training of racehorses.

He continued: “There have been no restrictions put in place on the heath and we hope it stays that way.

“It is important to remember is that we as a profession are very, very used to dealing with respiratory health.

“The respiratory health of our horses is the most important thing – provided they have sound legs, all athletic endeavour is about getting oxygen into the bloodstream. So healthy airwaves and not passing on bugs is vital for racing.

“We have strict biosecurity measures in place in our yard and that will be the same in the majority of racing yards. Using sterilisers, disinfectants and hand sanitisers has been part of our daily routine for as long as anybody can remember.”

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However, Palmer admitted that the industry as a whole faces a hugely challenging period.

He said: “I might just be clutching at straws and may be being hopelessly naive in thinking that in six weeks time we might be able to get going again.

“The question I keep asking myself is how long can you shut down an economy and how long can you shut down a society?

“Politicians, or Donald Trump in particular, keep talking about defeating this virus, but there is kind of no such thing.

“We are going to learn to live with it and learn to manage it and it is all very new, but viruses become endemic in our population and at some stage as a species it is something we are going to have to accept, like mankind has done many times over the centuries.

“It is going to test all of us to the core. It is going to be a challenge, we need to be united and it isn’t going to be fun. But racing is fun, and it will survive.

“It doesn’t mean that every yard will survive and doesn’t mean that every racecourse will survive.

“All of our businesses are based on continued custom, but those that do survive will come back in really good health and I think once we have come out the other side of this crisis there could be a serious upturn in people wanting to get out and be entertained, which could give racing a shot in the arm.”

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