Chantilly card to be staged behind closed doors in light of coronavirus threat

Tuesday's card at Chantilly will be run behind closed doors as French public health officials react to the threat posed by coronavirus.

France Galop announced the measure on Saturday after consulting with authorities in the Oise department in northern France, the region to have the most recorded cases of coronavirus.

On Saturday there were 36 confirmed cases in Oise out of a national total of 100.

Meetings at nearby Compiegne on Monday and Wednesday will also be closed to the public.

Sunday's main meeting at Auteuil in Paris will go ahead without special precautions, with racing authorities being guided by requests from local and regional government.

Auteuil: Sunday meeting will go ahead as plannedCredit: Scoop Dyga

The French government announced on Friday a temporary ban on indoor gatherings of more than 5,000 people.

Ireland's final Six Nations encounter at the Stade de France on March 14 is one of the events which could be impacted if the outbreak escalates.

There are three trial races for Dubai World Cup night on the Chantilly card and among those on show is last season's Grand Prix de Deauville winner Ziyad, as well as Godolphin pair Impulsif and Syrtis.

Betfair Exchange's market on whether day one of the Cheltenham Festival on March 10 will go ahead topped £1 million in matched bets on Sunday night.

'No' opened at 4.1 when the market was created on Tuesday and traded at a high of 4.4 but was as short as 2.2 on Sunday afternoon and the first day to go ahead was trading at 1.8.

Some late trading saw the difference in prices widen with 'yes' into 1.7 and 'no' out to 2.38 at 9pm.

Trainer Nicky Henderson said it was vital that the festival was rescheduled if it was called off by the coronavirus outbreak.

Nicky Henderson: spoke out about coronavirusCredit: Edward Whitaker

Speaking on Luck On Sunday, he said: "I spoke to Martin St Quinton [Cheltenham chairman] last night and Simon Claisse [Cheltenham clerk of the course] this morning, and they were very positive, but they have to be. It's on until anything ghastly happens and that'll [the decision] come from the government of course.

"It's different from 2001 when we had the foot and mouth as that was something between DEFRA and racing to make their minds up. I think it's vital, whatever happens, that this is staged at some point. If we were forced to stop how long is the break period going to be?"

On Sunday, 12 new coronavirus cases were revealed in Britain, taking the overall number of confirmed cases to 36 from more than 10,000 people tested.

Boris Johnson will head an emergency Cobra meeting on Monday in response to the escalating situation and described the outbreak as "the government's top priority".

On Friday, the BHA stressed there was "no need at this time" to develop a policy for the abandonment of fixtures, in line with the approach taken by other sports, but added they would continue to consult closely with the government and "plan for a range of contingencies".

Five Serie A games have been postponed this weekendCredit: Tullio M. Puglia

European sport continues to be impacted with a further five Italian Serie A matches postponed this weekend – following four last weekend – due to concerns about the respiratory virus spreading.

The games had been slated to take place behind closed doors but clubs, including Juventus and Inter Milan, petitioned the league to postpone the matches as they did not want to play in empty stadiums.

Schools and universities in three northern Italian regions will stay closed for a second consecutive week, while the French government has issued a ban on all public gatherings of more than 5,000 people in a confined space after the country confirmed 16 new cases, taking its total to 100.

The Swiss government has banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people, while racing in Japan and Hong Kong will take place behind closed doors.

Japan is one of the worst affected countries with 226 cases so far. Paddy Power on Friday made the opening ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo a 4-6 shot to be called off.

Read more if you were interested in this:

Coronavirus and racing: will the Cheltenham Festival be affected?

BHA: 'no need at this time' for abandonment policy despite Coronavirus spread

Japanese meetings to be staged behind closed doors as Coronavirus fears grow

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