Ireland, South Africa shut down horse racing because of coronavirus

Both Ireland and South Africa planned to cease all live racing operations as of March 27 as the countries’ governments announced strict measures for citizens to stay at home to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

Both countries had been conducting racing spectator-free, but the new orders to shut down will have racetracks in the countries closed until at least mid-April.

South Africa will allow cards scheduled on Wednesday and Thursday to go on as planned, but will shut down as of the conclusion of the Thursday cards until at least April 17. Ireland’s shutdown became effective immediately on Tuesday night, and no racing will be conducted until at least April 19.

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