The deepening foot-and-mouth crisis in Britain is forcing Ireland's racing authorities to consider transferring high-profile National Hunt races like the Irish Grand National to the autumn.
"We have to make every effort to save the top Grade One races," the Turf Club chief executive, Brian Kavanagh, said yesterday.
The weekend statement from the Minister for Agriculture, Joe Walsh, that it would be 30 days after the last outbreak of the foot-and-mouth virus in Britain before the Government would consider lifting restrictions is also having an effect on the coming flat season.
That is due to start at the Curragh at the end of the month, and a backlog in the top Group One races on the flat may yet result in a "Super Sunday" type race-day where many top races will be run off.
Before any Group One race in that branch of the sport, however, the focus will be firmly on the Powers Gold Label Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse, set for Easter Monday, and the Punchestown festival, which is scheduled to start on April 24th.
Brian Kavanagh admitted yesterday that both the Fairyhouse and Punchestown festivals are under serious threat, and contingency plans are being drawn up to save the top races.
Punchestown alone has 10 Grade One races, including the Champion Hurdle, won by Istabraq in 1999, and the Gold Cup, won by Commanche Court last year.
Kavanagh said: "Our Plan A is, if at all possible, to run the top races before the end of this National Hunt season. But Plan B, if we have to use it, is to delay these sort of top races to the autumn. Factors such as the impact on a horse's novice status will have to be considered, but we are looking at any options necessary to run the top races. They are our priority."
He added: "If we are dealing with 30 days from the last outbreak in the UK, then that puts things on a more serious plain because there are new cases still being reported every day. It means we have to start looking beyond Fairyhouse and Punchestown.
"We will know more about the scale of the problem next week when we will find out if the situation in Northern Ireland has been contained and the number of new outbreaks in Britain, but at the moment everything is in limbo and everything is on hold."
A long-term ban on racing would be a disaster for the top flat trainers in this country, including Aidan O'Brien, who has a large number of classic hopefuls.
The English 2,000 Guineas will be run at Newmarket on May 5th, for which O'Brien has a number of leading contenders, including Minardi and Hemingway. The first domestic classic fixture will be the weekend of May 26th-27th at the Curragh, when both Guineas races and the Tattersalls Gold Cup, all Group One contests, are scheduled to be run.
"Clearly we can't put a date on when everything will return to normal, but if the classic trials can't be run we will have to see whether it is necessary to put the Group One races back in order to create a trial programme.
"But the problem with that is we are linked into the European pattern, and if, for instance, we moved back a race like the 1,000 Guineas, it would end up on top of Royal Ascot," Kavanagh said.
