Lack of resumption date defended by BHA with detailed plans already in place

BHA chief operating officer Richard Wayman has defended the authority's reluctance to name a date for the resumption of racing.

Racing has been suspended since mid-March and the latest extension to the shutdown did not identify an intended restart point.

With Boris Johnson expected to make an announcement about a possible ease to the nationwide lockdown on Sunday, there has been speculation of a return for British racing on May 15.

Richard Wayman: 'We have put forward detailed plans to the government but it has to be a two-way process'

But Wayman said on Sky Sports Racing: "We have put forward detailed plans to the government but it has to be a two-way process where we're sensitive to what the government and the scientific officials advising them are saying back to us.

"I don't think it would have been the right thing for us to come out and name a date, it would have been an arbitrary date. Our aim is to ensure when we're given the green light we're ready to go."

Wayman stressed racing cannot resume until everything is in place and said: "One of the worst things that could happen for racing or any sport is for it to resume then after a few weeks have to stop because we haven't got it right. We're really dependent on the work of Dr Jerry Hill the chief medical adviser of the BHA who's working with other sports to ensure when it does resume it does so in a safe way.

"We need to make sure we've gone through every possible step to make sure that the return is a safe one."

Mark Johnston: 'Racing is the shopfront of our business'Credit: Edward Whitaker

Trainer Mark Johnston is frustrated by those suggesting racing needs to wait for a green light from government and said: "Government would expect the BHA to come with a firm plan, government's not going to do that for us, they have more than enough on their plate.

"We should be going to government with a firm plan, saying x number of days after lockdown this is what we intend to do.

"Racing is the shopfront of our business and it would seem to me that, better than just about any other other sport, we can put on racing within government's guidelines. It's been done in Australia, Hong Kong, they've been going on right through - the template is there for doing it and we should be setting out to do it."

Constructive meetings were held between government officials and key BHA figures last week giving encouragement that racing could be able to resume if sufficient clearance is given when lockdown measures are reviewed later this week.

On Tuesday, Cabinet ministers made more positive noises around allowing sport to resume with foreign secretary Dominic Raab stating that a safe return would "lift the spirits of the nation", while health secretary Matt Hancock outlined how he would be open to the prospect of racing and Premier League football resuming if it was deemed safe to do so.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, he said: "I'm absolutely open to that, and horseracing too. I know the Premier League and racing are working on how this might be doable in a safe way, but that safety has to be paramount.

"We’ve got to make decisions about what the relative priorities are to all of the different things that could be reopened, and do everything we can at the same time to keep R [the infection rate] down."

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