The show goes on at Chantilly for now but coronavirus has trainers worried

There are no masks in sight and on the face of it, a Tuesday in March at Chantilly might qualify for one of the smaller attendances on a French racecourse, even without the spectre of coronavirus.

But as anyone who has ever watched a football match behind closed doors will attest, there remains something eerie about high level sport taking place with no shouts of encouragement from the stands.

Chantilly was forced to follow nearby Compiegne in banning the public from attending their all-weather meeting under instruction from health and local government officials from the Oise department, as France reacts to the onward spread of coronavirus.