The Turf Club and the Irish Horseracing Authority (IHA) will meet the Department of Agriculture's Expert Advisory Group today knowing confirmation of a possible new foot-and-mouth outbreak in Co Louth will not definitely rule out their hopes to restart racing in April.
The IHA's plans for an April 14th renewal of racing had to be shelved following the initial Cooley peninsula outbreak and today's meeting with the expert group, chaired by Professor Michael Monaghan, was described as "critical" by several key racing figures yesterday.
The Easter festival at Fairyhouse is hanging precariously in the balance and the racecourse manager Dick Sheil said yesterday: "The critical time is now and by tomorrow we will all know our fate. We are going to have to get a definitive answer."
The Government appears to be sticking to its view of keeping its restrictions on high-risk categories such as racing until 30 days after the last outbreak but that may not apply if there is a fresh outbreak in Co Louth.
A Department of Agriculture spokesman said: "I'm not sure another outbreak in the Cooley area would make much of a difference to the discussions with the IHA and the Turf Club. It would mean the disease is still in the same area and there might not be too many implications for outside Louth. But the expert group will be the judge of that."
The group, who report directly to the Minister for Agriculture Joe Walsh, have already relaxed restrictions on category one and two sports such as rugby and soccer but racing's category three status means a significant relaxation in the 30 day "rule of thumb" will be needed for racing to resume at Easter.
The Punchestown festival scheduled for April 24th-27th is also in doubt and its chief executive Charlie Murless described today's meeting as "absolutely vital." He added: "The decision rests with the authorities but we are going ahead with our preparations as if we will race on schedule."
The same attitude exists at Fairyhouse and manager Dick Sheil said: "We lost a couple of sponsors but I'm in negotiations with two others so that is not a disaster. We're preparing as if we will kick off on Easter Sunday and we're actually ahead of ourselves in the preparation of the track. Our main sponsors Irish Distillers are still on board but like everyone else they are awaiting clarification from the Department."
In England, Wolverhampton will not be able to stage any racing until further notice after a confirmed case of foot-and-mouth disease nearby placed the racecourse within a designated exclusion zone.
One of three all-weather tracks, the course was due to race next on April 10th but that meeting will now be switched to Southwell.
Clerk of the course Fergus Cameron said: "I understand that the course is 5.3km from the case but I don't know exactly where it is.
"But that puts us in an exclusion zone and obviously under the guidelines we cannot race until that is lifted."
The British Horseracing Board has also revealed two new all-weather fixtures next week at Lingfield on Tuesday and Southwell on Wednesday.
Liam Browne has declared Gide (Jamie Spencer) for the Premio Cunardo (1m 110yds) in Milan tomorrow. The Italian-owned runner faces five rivals, including the Irish import, Resonate, now with a local stable. Trained by Jim Bolger last season, Resonate was second in the Tyros Stakes and fourth in the Railway Stakes.
David Loder returns to his old stomping ground tomorrow when Island Sands, the 1999 2,000 Guineas winner, renews his acquaintance with the French scene in the Group Three Prix Edmond Blanc (1m) at Saint-Cloud.
