Wont be a closed meeting
Total loss for the Jockey CLUB

2.66 for a cancellation could be a no-brainer by the middle of next week given the actions of other governments outside the UK regards mass gatherings. Is it not ironic there is no street demonstration from either Extinction Rebellion or Climate Change protesters. - I wonder why. Self-preservation is the utmost importance more than saving the planet.

If its a no brainer by the middle of next week IT WONT BE 2.66 tho .Will it??

It is.
No football cancelled.
No racing cancelled.

'xmoneyx, I'd not considered that. That could be a big trap door.

chelt will do what government tell them to do, fact

Latest from RP website:

https://www.racingpost.com/news/latest/coronavirus-and-racing-will-the-cheltenham-festival-be-affected/425227

Coronavirus and racing: will the Cheltenham Festival be affected?
You will have heard of coronavirus by now – or more specifically the Covid-19 variety of the virus that started in the Wuhan region of China and is spreading rapidly around the world.

As of 9am on Saturday 82,240 cases had been reported globally with 59 countries affected — resulting in 2,924 deaths worldwide.

The international nature of this potentially fatal virus means authorities worldwide are reacting rapidly and sporting events have been some of the first to be affected.

So could it affect racing in Britain?

In short, yes it could. In Italy, the worst-affected country in Europe with 821 cases, Serie A football matches are being played behind closed doors this weekend, while Italy's Six Nations rugby clash with Ireland in Dublin was postponed ten days in advance and there are question marks over the clash with England in Rome the day after the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Formula One's Chinese Grand Prix, on April 19, has already been cancelled and Paddy Power on Friday made this summer's Olympics in Tokyo, Japan (July 24 to August 9) a 4-6 shot to be cancelled.

We are not there yet, but if the number of cases in Britain spikes from the current 20 then racing could well be hit. If things stay as they are, then everything would carry on as normal.

Could it impact Cheltenham — and could the festival be cancelled?

Well, the Betfair market – on which £545,198 has been matched so far – suggests the first day of the festival is 1.57 (4-7) to go ahead and 2.72 (13-8) to be off.

Now it does not specify this has to be due to coronavirus, so anything from snow or frost to high winds, waterlogging or acts of God like another equine flu outbreak are runners in the market, but it does give you a strong indication of how serious the threat is given 'no' traded as high as 4.4 shortly after the market opened on Tuesday evening.

Cheltenham officials have given every indication they expect the festival to go ahead as planned and the BHA on Friday said it saw no reason to "develop a policy regarding abandonment of any specific fixtures due to coronavirus at this time", but the decision will ultimately lie with the government.

Furthermore, while shutting down a sporting event is less effective as a prevention method than closing major airports and transport systems such as the London Underground, it is also vastly less disruptive to the general public and so often deemed the starting point.

The festival, with more than 260,000 visitors from all over the globe in just four days, would be a vastly greater concern in that sense than a midweek evening fixture at Kempton, and if the number of cases in Britain starts to rise and politicians become involved, then all bets are off.

Could the festival be held behind closed doors, or elsewhere?

In Japan (226 cases) and Hong Kong (93) spectators have been banned from racecourses as countries with a rising number of contaminated individuals look to minimise the potential for spreading the virus while keeping the show on the road, while the Swiss government have banned gatherings of more than a 1,000 people in a country with just 15 cases to date.

Running the festival behind closed doors instead of cancelling the meeting would be preferable for racing fans, the sport's participants and bookmakers alike, and for the sport too in terms of Levy-generation, but the balance sheets of Jockey Club Racecourses would take a hammering unless their insurance covers the commercial loss of the meeting technically going ahead, albeit behind closed doors. The course will not comment on the details of their insurance arrangements.

The problem with relocating is if a gathering of 260,000 in Cheltenham is problematic, the same is likely to apply were it moved to Ascot, Ayr, Doncaster, Haydock, Newbury or Sandown.

What happens if it's postponed?

Foot and mouth caused the 2001 Cheltenham Festival to be cancelled. The initial contingency plan was for a delayed festival to take place in April, with the then three-day event pencilled in for April 17-19. When that too had to be abandoned the governing body at the time, the British Horseracing Board (BHB), looked into trying to salvage the championship races at other venues – with attempts made to add the four championship races and Arkle to Sandown's season-ending meeting, but those plans failed.

The congested nature of the spring calendar, with major festivals at Aintree (April 2-4), Fairyhouse (April 11-13), Ayr (April 17-18), Sandown (April 25) and Punchestown (April 28-May 2), means even if the coronavirus epidemic is abated, finding a slot for the festival would not be straightforward.

But with Cheltenham already scheduled to race on April 15 and 16 (a Wednesday and a Thursday) adding a Tuesday to that fixture, as they did in 2001, would look the most obvious solution.

How much would it cost the industry?

In 2001 when the festival was a three-day event, the loss of Cheltenham was estimated to have cost the betting industry alone £100 million, while local tourism reportedly suffered an estimated £10 million hit. The course itself will not comment on the financial impact suffered.

These days the festival is an altogether bigger beast and those numbers can be inflated. Bookmakers do roughly £450-£500 million in turnover which, with an even run of results, returns around £50 million in profit and with the levy at ten per cent that is roughly a £5 million hit for the sport as a whole if those four days are lost.

And it is not just those four days. The reason bookmaker offers are so enticing around Cheltenham is because it is a major account recruiting event. While the Grand National may open more accounts, they are generally one-off bettors, the industry has learned Cheltenham activates accounts that continue to bet throughout the year and thus further chipping in to the sport's levy return.

Rapidly changing infection rate might accelerate sporting events getting called off and Cheltenham is a very large multi national event. Government will be driven to avoid criticism, so if they think there is a scenario of Cheltenham causing a big spike in proliferating the virus of course they will stop it.

Cheltenham were "confident" of going ahead in 2001 then a few days before the start succumbed to Foot & Mouth (sheep grazing on course the killer).

Strange thing is I doubt it can be stopped now, just delayed. It's just a case of how many get it, how the 20% who get it really bad can be treated by our overstretched National Health Service and how many of the 20% will die. In the UK 20m/4m/1m might be a conservative estimate.

I was at Doncaster yesterday it’s unbelievable how many didn’t even wash there hands after been to the toilet .

Good morning posy hope your well

The bottom line in all this is nobody has a clue really if logic prevails we will race .

French Racing Behind CLosed Doors

UPDATED 11:51AM, MAR 1 2020
 
Tuesday's card at Chantilly will be run behind closed doors as French public health officials react to the threat posed by coronavirus.

Yes let’s enjoy the time we have got.

I would have no doubt whatsoever if it was boris himself we could all start packing now for Cheltenham.

the crowd IS  chelt imo

Renton has stated it will not go ahead without the crowd!!

thanx to Elise who pointed that out to me Ribero.

if its a case of it not going ahead and prize money staying out of trainers pockets or going ahead without crowd ,believe me forget what anyone says it will be going ahead, hendo already on tv today saying whatever happens it must take place somehow ,somewhere, if the betfair loons really think hendo and co are giving up the chance to race for 5 million , and bookmakers,levy losing all their business because someone,s worried about not having a chelt roar their barking,from purely training a horse to win point of view no crowd is a help not a hinderance

although renton said it, i'm not convinced they won't consider behind closed doors if it's otherwise cancelled at govn request

Ribero

It’s like the scene in the king and I when the baby was going to get cut in half ,those who really love attending this fixture would sooner lose it than have it run behind closed doors ,those who never go don’t care they just want a bet or as there are so many shrewd layers now they won’t to lay a few.

There's as much chance of running Cheltenham behind closed doors as there is of having Glastonbury behind closed doors