Elite jockeys exempt from 14-day Covid-19 quarantine restrictions

Elite jockeys will not have to follow the 14-day restrictions on movement upon arrival into the country under new protocols announced yesterday by Horse Racing Ireland. Picture: Healy Racing

Elite jockeys will not have to follow the 14-day restrictions on movement upon arrival into the country under new protocols announced yesterday by Horse Racing Ireland. 

The updated protocols for Grade 1 jockeys were announced by Horse Racing Ireland, outlining how "elite athletes" would undergo a rigorous risk assessment that would allow them to compete abroad.

The Racing Post reported that Horse Racing Ireland chief executive Brian Kavanagh had confirmed that jockeys riding in Group 1 races in Ireland, as well as Irish-based jockeys competing in top-level races abroad, would not have to observe the 14-day quarantine period.

The new protocol has been updated a number of times since it was first published in May. It would see those jockeys undertake three tests for Covid-19, once before they travel and twice on their return.

It's understood Horse Racing Ireland raised the idea of top-level jockeys being exempted from the 14-day restrictions on movement ahead of the Irish Champions Weekend later this month, which would ordinarily attract top jockeys.

It will mean ease of movement for jockeys who compete on a daily basis in race meetings here and in the UK. Horse Racing Ireland said the protocols were strictly limited to the jockeys themselves and did not extend to others involved with the horses in competition.

In a statement, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine said: "Horseracing continues to be permitted on a 'behind-closed-doors' basis. The department understands that Horse Racing Ireland are adhering to the ‘Covid-19 international travel for high-performance sporting activities during the Covid-19 pandemic’ guidelines approved by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Department of Health and Department of the Taoiseach."