How Newmarket came through tough times as gallops stars limber up for return

Things looked very bleak for Newmarket's trainers at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak amid local opposition to the Newmarket training grounds staying open, with the likelihood they would have been forced to close had NHS callouts owing to accidents not been kept to a minimum.

However, with Jockey Club Estates groundstaff doing a great job in keeping everyone safe through the last ten weeks and the county thankfully having one of the lowest virus death rates in Britain, more than 2,500 often fresh horses have been exercised as normal on the 300-year-old Heath.

Various measures, including splitting strings up into smaller groups of twos, threes and fours, have helped to stick to social distancing rules, while some riders, especially early on, chose to ride out in masks.