Andrew Nelis racing

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has stated that Irish racing needs to be aligned with its British and French counterparts in his address to the nation on Friday, the same day it was announced that racing's resumption was brought forward from June 29 to June 8. Racing had been scheduled to return in  phase three of the government's roadmap , which outlines the staggered reopening of businesses and social activities, but Horse Racing Ireland was successful in its proposal to bring it back a stage. HRI has been refining its submissions throughout the past couple of weeks and Varadkar labelled the industry as a "big economic" sector in giving his speech. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (left): "It's a big economic sector with a lot of jobs and income" Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos) He said: "Horseracing was never specifically mentioned in the plan we agreed back in April but now it is. Horseracing, behind closed doors, will be allowed to cont...