Hopes rise for return of racing to Chantilly while Paris tracks may have to wait

French prime minister Edouard Philippe has announced that much of the north east of France has been cleared of its coronavirus 'red zone' status, opening the way for important venues such as Chantilly and Compiegne to be freed from lockdown in the coming days.

Only the Paris region of Ile de France remains an area of significant concern, with the French government moving the area to a middle-ranking orange status, meaning that moves to reopen all parts of the economy will proceed there at a slower pace.

Intriguingly Philippe mentioned racecourses by name in stating that they would continue to operate behind closed doors "until at least June 21", the next milestone on the government's roadmap for the country to live with Covid-19.

He went on to spell out that professional teams in contact sports such as football and rugby would be able to return to training from June 22, although matches would continue to be banned.

France Galop made no immediate response to the government announcements and will examine the detail of the plan.

It would seem unlikely that orange status would be sufficient to allow the Paris tracks to reopen in time for the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris to be staged at Auteuil next Sunday, although positive news from authorities in the Oise department would potentially enable France Galop to put its new preferred option into place, namely to delay the race until the autumn and to run much of the rest of the meeting at Compiegne.

For Flat trainers the return to using what many of them regard as their home base at Chantilly – also in the Oise department – would also be a welcome move in the right direction.

Read more:

Green or red? French racing rushes to reallocate meetings after Paris shutdown

Paris tracks face shock lockdown as government changes Covid-19 policy

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