The unpalatable decisions facing the sport over 2021 fixture list

The BHA and Racecourse Association have said a significant delay to the return of the racegoers would be a "hammer blow" for the sport and the shockwaves from the setback delivered last week by Dr Rupert Suckling could certainly be felt well into next year.

Suckling, the director of public health for Doncaster, decided to curtail the pilot event for the return of spectators at last week's St Leger meeting, a move which was not just bad news for Arena Racing Company and those who had put such hard work into organising it. It was also another punch to British racing's solar plexus following the loss of the trial at Glorious Goodwood in August.

There was welcome news yesterday that the return of racegoers at Newmarket is set to go ahead. However, the hope had been that crowds might have been allowed to return to racecourses and other sports stadiums in limited numbers more generally from October 1 but such a move is now under review by the government as a result of a rise in cases of Covid-19.