To the delight of the horse racing industry and its legions of fans, the sport resumes on 1st June in the UK.  The British Horse Racing Authority (BHA) has been given the go-ahead by the government to allow racing fixtures to be conducted, albeit under strictly controlled conditions.   

The BHA says that, at present, the only people allowed to attend race meetings are “ those personnel required to deliver the racing fixture, with the number able to attend determined by public health restrictions in place at the time”.  Although the industry will be relieved that racing fixtures are to resume, there is considerable alarm at the loss of revenue streams, for example media rights payments and ticket sales, that normally support tracks.  So the Levy Board has stepped in by increasing the prize fund pots available during the initial 10 weeks of racing.  It had originally budgeted a £13.3m contribution for this period, sourced from off-course betting, but has now raised this amount to £16.4m.

The fixture list has been somewhat adjusted by the BHA but includes some top-notch racing that will excite fans and stimulate demand for on-line betting services.  Newcastle will host the first racing meeting – with an eight race all-weather card –  on Monday 1 June.  In the following seven days there will be 18 meetings at seven race tracks and, notably, the first Classics of 2020 will take place – the 2,000 Guineas and the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket on 6th and 7th June respectively.  The intention is to spread meetings throughout the country and other tracks that will host meetings include Lingfield, Yarmouth, Chelmsford and Haydock.

The racing calendar for June is below.  Please note that it also includes Irish racing, which returns on June 8.  Beyond June, notable races both in the UK and Ireland, will include the Derby and Oaks at Epsom on 4 July, and the Coral-Eclipse the following day.  The Irish Oaks will take place on 18 July and the Tattersalls Gold Cup on 26 July, both at Curragh.  From 27 July the 2020 Galway Races festival will take place featuring the Tote.Com Galway Plate on 29 July and the Guinness Galway Hurdle the following day. 

You can watch any and all of the racing on your mobile or desktop device via live stream . Please check our horse racing live streaming page for all up-to-date details.