Charlie Johnston raises doubts over possibility of regional racing amid coronavirus pandemic lockdown
Charlie Johnston has expressed concerns over the potential for racing to return in a regional capacity amid the global coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to sportinglife, Johnston, son and assistant to his father Mark in Middleham, said that their operation intended to remain "on the front foot" regarding any developments, but questioned whether possible plans for regional racing would ever be able to satisfy all parties.
The British Horse Racing Authority has imposed a full lockdown on racing in the UK until the end of the month at the earliest, but it is understood discussions have taken place regarding a localised racing programme returning in early-May at, or near to, three of the major training hubs in Britain.
Responding to the idea that regional bases in the south, midlands and north could host consecutive fixtures over a sustained period of up to a week at a time, Johnston said: "I’m not sure. I don’t know, as I haven’t been in these talks, but I think this idea may have originated from Martin Cruddace (CEO, Arena Racing Company) of ARC. I know from quite an early stage after racing was stopped he put forward a proposal of localised racing at, I believe Newcastle, Wolverhampton and Lingfield – the three all-weather ARC tracks.
"People seem to have jumped on the band-wagon with that idea and, quite predictably, Newmarket trainers have and said that racing in Newmarket is the obvious place. Well, of course it’s the obvious place for them.
"If there was a regional racing model of similar types of races being run in different parts of the country then fine; if the Guineas and the Jockey Club Stakes and other pattern races that were due to be run in the next four weeks were going to happen in Newmarket, and we weren’t going to be allowed to take part, then of course we wouldn’t be up for that.
- A full Mark Johnston stable tour will be published on Monday April 13 as we kick off the 2020 'Our Friends in the North' series
Johnston, whose huge operation sent out a remarkable 249 winners last year, had already enjoyed 21 all-weather winners through the winter prior to the news of the lockdown in Britain from March 18.
“We’re always looking to adapt and to stay on the front foot," he said. "When it looked like Irish racing might continue and British racing wouldn’t, we were thinking about renting some boxes over there and having a team of horses there.
"And if we had to do a similar thing in Newmarket, then I couldn’t rule that out either as we’d be looking to get the horses out and do the best for them and for our customers as we can.
"But the main priority is that everyone is fit and healthy and thankfully we’re in good form. We’re maintaining business as usual as much as we can. This is not a business we can press pause on and come back to in three weeks. We can’t just lock the doors and leave the horses be, they still need to be fed and they still need to exercise.
"And we need to be prepared for what we’re working towards which is the goal of trying to get racing on May 1 and to have our squad in as good a shape as possible when it resumes. It’s obviously hugely disappointing, there are already some quite significant meetings and races that have fallen by the wayside."
Johnston fears that a prolonged period without racing would have a significant impact on not only the current campaign, but seasons further down the line and the breeding industry on the whole.
"For a team that’s always striving to better ourselves and to break records – having posted such a fantastic number of winners last year, we’ve spent the winter working and dreaming of breaking those numbers again. Obviously that’s very unrealistic now.
"That will all pale into insignificance if we can get back racing some time in May and still have a season of some consequence because the opposite side of the coin, if we don’t get racing until much further down the line, has huge implications for our owners, our business and the current crop of horses.
"We’d also see a knock-on effect into next year, if this year’s horses haven’t run and haven’t achieved their potential then a lot of owners won’t be in the position to back again to the yearling market and re-stock again for next year. So we really need to have as much of a season as we can this year, not just for the short term but for the mid to long term as well because the knock-on effect of the breeding side of things and yards like ourselves is massive."
A full Mark Johnston stable tour will be published on Monday April 13 as we kick off the 2020 'Our Friends in the North' series.