Racing set to restart in Germany on Thursday

German racing has been cleared to resume at Hanover on Thursday, as the country slowly begins to lift restrictions that were in place due to the Coronavirus pandemic. 

The sport has been on hold in the country since March due to the public health crisis, and having delayed a planned restart at Dortmund on Monday, racing will be allowed to take place under strict measures behind closed doors. 

Under the measures, no overseas runners will be allowed to compete in Germany until May 31 - though this will be reviewed next week - and Deutscher Galopp will operate a six-week programme involving races with vastly reduced prize money.

As it stands, the German 2000 Guineas is pencilled in at Cologne for June 1, while the 1000 Guineas will take place six days later at Dusseldorf on June 7. Both races regularly have a strong British interest, with Fox Champion winning last year's 2000 Guineas under Oisin Murphy for the Richard Hannon team, and it remains to be seen whether foreign-trained horses will be permitted to take their chance this year. 

French racing is due to follow suit by returning next Monday, with Longchamp staging the a star-studded card, and Deutscher Galopp president Michael Vesper has said that everything is now in place for racing to resume at Hanover. He told www.galopponline.de: “We are relieved and grateful to authorities such as the racing club that people in racing companies can now go back to work.

“Many thanks to the Hannoversche Rennverein and the responsible authorities who have made this possible.

“The races, which have not been carried out since March 15 due to the Corona pandemic, will be resumed in Hanover on Thursday, May 7, in strict compliance with the association’s hygiene and clearance concept, which the authorities have deemed appropriate.”