Race meetings are preparing to go ahead without spectators over the following week.
Sport all across the country has been postponed over the weekend due to the coronavirus outbreak with horse racing also taking their own measures.
The news comes just two days following the Cheltenham Festival in which over 200,000 spectators attended across the four days.
Last week, it was announced that racing in Ireland would go ahead behind closed doors with now the British authorities taking the same action.
In a statement from the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) yesterday, they said:
“Racing industry leaders are preparing to hold race meetings without spectators and to ensure that the competitors and participants attending only do so under strict conditions.
“The sport’s tripartite leadership, including racecourses, participants and the governing body, the British Horseracing Authority, will tomorrow discuss an approach recommended by the industry’s COVID 19 group.
“It is likely to mean that racing moves behind closed doors later in the week, initially until the end of March.”
The Midland’s Grand National also went ahead over the weekend with over 8,000 spectators gathering in Uttoxeter for the meeting.
It now looks as if that could be the last meeting until at least the end of March with the possibility that races could be behind closed doors for even further.
The Cheltenham Festival did come under some scrutiny as the town opened their doors to thousands nationwide whilst other European are closing theirs due to the potential pandemic.
The Grand National is still set to be going ahead on Saturday 4th April with the BHA trying to work out ways to keep spectators and personal at courses safe.
In other sports, such as football the Premier League and Football League have postponed matches until 4th April but it does look likely the suspension will last longer.
Today the BHA have also announced that their offices have closed due to a member of staff potentially having the virus.
