Racing in UK to carry on behind closed doors: official

Racing in Britain is to carry on but behind closed doors, the sport's regulatory body, the British Horseracing Authority, said on Monday.

The sport attracted criticism for allowing the showpiece Cheltenham Festival to go ahead last week with over 250,000 spectators attending despite the coronavirus outbreak.

Many of the Cheltenham racegoers were Irish, which provoked a social media backlash in Ireland, but racing authorities say they were following British government advice in maintaining the meeting.

Irish racing had already taken the decision to race behind closed doors last week Meanwhile the BHA shut its central London head quarters earlier on Monday due to "small numbers of office-based BHA staff self-isolating."
"Any fixtures that take place in England, Wales and Scotland, initially until the end of March, will take place without spectators and with restrictions on the number of attendees."
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"We are following the government's advice to strike a balance between protecting public health and maintaining business activity and will continue to do so."