Fears for bloodstock and Down Royal fixture as odds on no-deal Brexit are cut

British and Irish racing authorities have voiced growing fears that bloodstock sales and Down Royal's showpiece Champion Chase fixture could be severely disrupted if Britain crashes out of Europe without a deal.

As the prospect of Britain leaving the EU without a trade deal on October 31 appeared to increase following the decision by British prime minister Boris Johnson to suspend parliament for five weeks, the odds on a no-deal Brexit were trimmed into a top-priced 11-10 from 5-4. Those odds had been as high as 9-1 earlier in the year.

Horse Racing Ireland chief executive Brian Kavanagh expressed fears that a no-deal Brexit could create serious issues for racing due to the uncertainty over the Northern Ireland border, presenting an immediate problem for the Down Royal fixture.

With Down Royal due to host its showpiece festival of racing, which includes the first Grade 1 of the jumps season in the shape of the three-mile Champion Chase, on the two days following the slated Brexit date, the issue of movement of both people and horses between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland could become an urgent issue.

The backstop is in place to protect against a hard border after Brexit but Johnson is agitating for its removal.

Asked how the festival would be impacted should a no-deal Brexit occur the day before, Kavanagh was not inclined to suggest everything would be fine.

"I think there will be difficulties,” he said. “I think the two statements no-deal and no hard border are contradictory, until someone proves it otherwise. It is very hard to reconcile no-deal with no hard border.

“If you have a no-deal Brexit and you immediately have jurisdictions under different rules, or potentially under different rules, then you are going to have to have some sort of hard border.

"And then, to be true to that, you would need a border inspection post and the same sort of checks that you would have between Ireland and Britain.

"It is still up in the air and I think it would create a lot of difficulties, particularly with the Northern Ireland meeting coming so soon after the Brexit date.”

Brexit will mean an end to the Tripartite Agreement that exists between the racing authorities in Ireland, France and Britain.

Britain would then be designated as a third country, so it would require checks at border inspection posts, of which there are two in Ireland at the Dublin and Shannon airports, with another expected to be opened at Dublin Port and also possibly Rosslare Port.

"With no-deal or a hard Brexit it is fairly obvious what the arrangements are east-west,” Kavanagh said. “There will be movement through a border inspection post, there will be extra veterinary certification required and there will be the potential for a veterinary check at the border inspection posts.

"What's not clear is the movement north-south and what will be required for that. We need to engage in detail on the department of agriculture on that, but this looks like it is going to go to the wire."

Asked whether a no-deal Brexit put the Down Royal festival in jeopardy, Kavanagh said: “I wouldn't like to say that the meeting could be in danger, but I do think no-deal means effectively a hard border. If you are saying that there doesn't have to be a hard border in the event of a no-deal, show us what's the alternative?

"How would you cope with that alternative? I think the EU look at this from an animal health point of view as much as from a trade point of view and for those reasons they have these checks at what they call the border inspection posts.”

The UK government has reiterated that even under a no-deal scenario, racehorses from the EU would still be able to enter the UK in seamless fashion, just as they do now under the Tripartite Agreement.

However, if the EU does not to reciprocate the UK's policy it would mean severe delays and logistical difficulties for those horses on their return home.

BHA executive director Will Lambe said: "Work has continued over the summer, with a focus on no-deal preparedness, to reflect the wider political climate. We are doing everything we can, and the same variables remain in terms of an October 31 no-deal exit when compared to such a departure back in March or April."

The Brexit date falls in the middle of the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale in Newmarket and shortly before National Hunt, Flat foal and breeding stock sales in Britain, Ireland and France.

Lambe added: "While not wishing to downplay the potential impact on racing activity, the chief implications of an October 31 departure from the EU surround sales activity this autumn, and we have meetings arranged with sales houses and other representatives from across the breeding and transport sectors in the coming days."

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