Horseracing officials feared missed Covid-19 update ahead of Cheltenham Festival

The four-day Festival was, at that stage, one of the largest mass gatherings on the immediate horizon

Paul Townend onboard Ferny Hollow comes home to win ahead of Patrick Mullins onboard Appreciate It at the Cheltenham Festival in March this year - one of the last sporting events in front of a large live attendence. Picture: INPHO/Dan Sheridan

British Horseracing Authority officials feared they had missed out on a coronavirus update from the Sports Minister in late February with the Cheltenham Festival less than a fortnight away, the PA news agency has discovered.

Emails between the BHA and officials at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) obtained under a Freedom of Information request by PA show the sport's governing body was concerned it had been omitted from calls made by the minister, Nigel Huddleston, on February 26.