RECORD-breaking trainer Mark Johnston has tested positive for Coronavirus.
The Yorkshire-based handler has been in isolation since displaying symptoms of the virus.
The 60-year-old told horseracingplanet.com: “I didn’t really want any publicity because I didn’t want to make a meal of it. I’ve been isolated since last Tuesday but other people are a lot worse off than I am; other people have bigger problems so you don’t want to blow it up.
“It started with a cough and I tried to play it down. I didn’t really think I had it but after four days my temperature was off the scale and then I had no choice but to accept it.
“I did one of those tests you have to pay for. We were fairly sure, but we got the result of that yesterday.”
He added: “Hospital is the last place I wanted to go given what you see on the news. I’ve had an online consultation and the doctor keeps telling you that as you’re continuing to breathe OK, then stay at home and don’t go to hospital, so that’s what I’m working on.”
The news comes hot on the heels of the announcement that the racing suspension would be extended from the May 1 date the BHA had originally given.
No new timescale was given to when racing will restart behind closed doors, with middle to late May now seemingly more realistic.
