Police stop Danish meeting after one race for breaking social distancing

Police in Denmark stormed and shut down a race meeting in Aalborg on Monday as the gathering broke social distancing regulations.

The Danish government has enforced an assembly ban whereby no more than ten people can gather and moments after the finish of the first race at Racing Arena Aalborg the local police arrived.

The shutdown came as a surprise to racing officials as they had been staging racing behind closed doors for two weeks at the track. The racing authority reportedly wrote to the national police for clarity on Sunday regarding whether they would be able to race the following day, but received no answer.

Seven minutes before the first race, the police had contacted the racecourse's lawyer warning the meeting had to be cancelled. The lawyer did not respond and the forces arrived on the racecourse to break up the meeting.

Lars Hellerup, course manager at Aalborg, told Nordjyske: "As soon as we finished the first race, the police were on the field, and then we had to shut down.

"But now we have something in writing that we can continue to work with, and we will contact the authorities to see if there is something that can be done so that we can run races again. The problem has been that if we choose to cancel ourselves, we cannot get support in the form of the relief packages."

The police will not be giving any fines as all those on track complied immediately.

May resumption for racing confirmed in Czech Republic and Hungary

On the heels of France’s announcement that racing will begin behind closed doors next Monday, two more European nations have declared themselves open for business.

Racing will commence behind closed doors in the Czech Republic from May 18, while Hungary will follow suit on May 24. The revised schedule for Hungary’s major races was issued on Monday by the Kincsem Nemzeti Ltd, with the five Classics pushed back in the year as expected.

Kincsem Park: will stage the Hungarian Derby in 2020

The Hungarian 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas will now take place on June 21, while the Hungarian Derby will be run at Kincsem Park on August 23. The Oaks (September 20) and St Leger (November 8) are autumnal highlights of a schedule that will continue well into December.

“With the ever-present and very strong support from the Hungarian government, Hungary is back in the game,” the official statement outlined. “We are convinced that all participants - breeders, owners, trainers, riders and our faithful grooms - will be prepared for the challenges of this year.”

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