Irish racing remains on hold with government lockdown extended until May 5

The lockdown in Ireland has been extended until May 5, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar confirmed on Friday.

Racing in Ireland stopped on March 24 after Varadkar announced all sporting events would be cancelled until at least April 19 due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

The Punchestown festival, originally scheduled to take place from April 28 to May 2, was cancelled last week. The season's first Irish Classic, the Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas, is scheduled for May 23.

Varadkar said on Friday: "The restrictions we introduced two weeks ago were set to expire on Sunday. Today, the expert recommendation is to extend them for a further three weeks until Tuesday, May 5. The government have accepted this recommendation."

Brian Kavanagh: Horse Racing Ireland will take stock next week said its chief executiveCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Horse Racing Ireland chief executive Brian Kavanagh had told the Racing Post on Thursday that he would be pretty certain Irish racing would not resume in April, a judgement that was confirmed by the Taoiseach's latest briefing on Friday.

The official stance of HRI remained the same following the lockdown extension but Kavanagh added on Friday: "We have a board meeting next Friday and we'll take stock of the situation at that point."

Irish racing had initially moved to take place behind closed doors on March 13 at Dundalk but a National Hunt fixture at Clonmel 11 days later would prove to be the final card hosted in this guise, with the government's restrictions increasing on March 24.

Lockdown measures in Britain are similar and on Thursday foreign secretary Dominic Raab said: "The measures will have to stay in place until we've got the evidence that clearly shows that we've moved beyond the peak."

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