BHA sets sights on return of 48-hour decs 'within a week or so'

British racing is working towards taking a small step back to normality with 48-hour declarations returning "as quickly as possible".

Maximum field sizes are also set to be increased and restrictions on apprentice riders lifted when it is deemed fit, as the BHA continues the process of restarting the sport.

Declarations for meetings in the first week of resumption are being made 72 hours in advance, so that the necessary protocols for jockeys, trainers and other key personnel who need to be present can be processed – only those who have completed an online Covid-19 training module and medical questionnaire and indicated their attendance are allowed in for fixtures staged strictly behind closed doors.

Face masks, screening and temperature checks - BHA sets out path to going racing

But chief regulatory officer Brant Dunshea, who was at Newcastle for Monday's first meeting back after the shutdown, signalled that he hopes that will change once the process has had time to bed in.

"We have some protocols in place that we have some flex about within the government guidance which we'll continuously review," he said.

"The sorts of things we'll start to look at are the 72-hour decs – we want to get back to 48-hour decs as quickly as possible.

"We had them because we needed the extra 24 hours to coordinate the logistics, knowing everyone who was going to be here. That was challenging but once we've got that bedded down we'll get back to 48-hour decs as quickly as we can – that reduces the risk of non-runners.

"I hope we can revert to 48-hour decs within the next week or so."

Brant Dunshea: 'We're continuously looking at risk'

In order to minimise the risk of accidents and a possible call on the coronavirus-stretched NHS, racing has resumed with safety limits reduced to 12, and apprentices claiming 5lb and 7lb barred from riding.

But Dunshea said: "We'll also look at the limit on fields sizes, we'll review that, and we also need to look at our apprentice jockeys – at the moment we're only allowing fully licensed professionals and 3lb claimers but we're continuously looking at risk and we'll make a decision.

"We'll review those aspects on a weekly basis and make the decision when the time is right."

Spectators and owners were prohibited when racing became the first major professional sport to resume on Monday and Dunshea warned that the behind-closed-doors policy is set to remain in place for a while.

"Our chief medical adviser Dr Jerry Hill is working with a collaborative group of medical advisers to other sports, working with Public Health England, and they're developing a five-step plan to the resumption of sport to full, open, international competition with crowds," he said.

"We're the first major sport to resume under step three and it will take some time for the other sports to start operating and for the government to be comfortable it is the right time before we move beyond that to the next phase."

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