Firstly I am sorry for the slight delay in producing today's Blog and communicating the latest news from the BHA that was published late yesterday afternoon; you may already have heard of the announcement that, for the mo, Racing is further suspended and you can read this by following this link.

Part of the reason for the delay in forwarding this is because the sharp end of the Industry (which would include Rowdown) have asked a number of questions of our Regulatory Authority concerning the immediate way ahead; the core of the response, which in general Rowdown finds reassuring, is two fold; firstly there is an clear assurance that arrangements are in place for the resumption of racing immediately/very quickly on getting Government approval; essentially it is envisaged that, initially, racing would take place 'behind closed doors' on a regional basis with a phased transition to a more normal operation as the circumstances of the pandemic allow.

Secondly there is a clear recognition, both within the BHA and within Government, of the fact that the Industry has some 14000 horses in its care; and that the care and welfare of these guys in the current climate is placing a real and significant burden on the Owners (ie most of the people who read this Blog); this is what we have been told in the last hour concerning immediate 'finance':

"On finance, there is a Levy Board meeting today to discuss financial support and the Racing Foundation has agreed a package of help. We hope that will be announced tomorrow. Ideally, we’d have been able to do this at the same time as yesterday’s announcement but we don’t have control over all the decision-making and timings. "

As I write this we don't have much conception of what this will entail in practical terms but in general it is reassuring (although the communication over the last week could, in the opinion of Rowdown, been better); I will make sure that the outturn of today's Levy Board meeting is conveyed to all of our people as soon as we have it.

And thank you, all, for your support and kindness at a rubbish time.