Racing League: New summer team competition postponed until 2021
- Published
The Racing League, which was scheduled to start on 16 July, had promised £1.8m in prize money
A new televised summer team horse racing competition planned to start in July has been postponed until next year.
The Racing League aims to trial new rules where a jockey carries a whip but only uses it for safety and correction purposes, and not for encouragement as is commonplace in most races.
Organisers have told BBC Sport that they now hope to launch the concept with six flat race meetings on consecutive Thursday evenings in July and August 2021.
The event had originally been scheduled to start in 2019 before being put back to this year.
Racing League chief executive Jeremy Wray said the event was being postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Although disappointed, we are making the decision now to postpone the Racing League until 2021," he said.
"We have committed £1.8m prize money to the British Horseracing Authority, and will use the time we now have to work with horsemen, our partners and stakeholders to make the competition a really positive addition to the flat racing calendar for next year."