On March 12^th, the Czech Republic was the first country in Europe to announce a state of emergency and special measures aimed at reducing and regulating the impacts of the coronavirus epidemic. According to Czech law, a state of emergency can be announced for a maximum of 30 days, after which it may be renewed.

The early announcement by the Czech Republic does not seem to indicate a worse situation here than in other central European countries. It may be however that the Czech health services and the Czech government were more alert and more prepared than their counterparts in some other European countries – in the sense that they were probably more aware of the consequences of a sudden major outburst of the disease before further preparations have been made.

The immediate consequences for Czech racing are that the first two race meetings of our 2020 season (April 5^th, at Prague Velka Chuchle, and April 11th, at Most) have already been cancelled, and our trainers will not be able to take their horses to run abroad.

Travel to and from the Czech Republic has been closed down until further notice.