The British Horseracing Authority said on Monday that the sport is “committed to plan for resumption on 1 June” and will agree a timeline to achieve that target within seven days, after the publication of a government “roadmap” out of lockdown which ruled out the return of any professional sport before that date. A statement issued on behalf of racing’s executive committee, which includes the BHA, the National Trainers’ Federation, the Racecourse Association and the Racehorse Owners’ Association, also offered hope that the season’s Classics, including the Derby, will still be run, though the first four at least – the 2,000 Guineas, 1,000 Guineas, Derby and Oaks – are likely to be at least six weeks later than normal. “The [BHA’s] Resumption of Racing Group will meet later this week and ensure that race planning and the provisional fixture programme, including the scheduling of the Classics and other flagship races, meet the new government timeline,” the statement said. “Racing has already drawn up plans for resumption based on minimising risk for participants through robust social distancing and strict infection control measures. Discussions with Public Health England and chief medical o fficers from sports including horseracing will also continue.” Trainer Mark Johnston, who has been very critical of the BHA’s approach to the resumption of racing in recent weeks and called for the resignation of chief executive Nick Rust, welcomed the news of a potential date for resumption on Monday evening. “It’s a couple of weeks later than I would have liked, but at least it’s a date,” Johnston said. “The government has said no sports [before 1 June] and that doesn’t make a lot of sense, what’s the difference between a race meeting and a construction site [where workers are now being encouraged to return], apart from we’re outdoors and less densely populated. But if we’ve got a date, we can work towards it.” The British Horseracing Authority has been working on plans to stage meetings under strict quarantine conditions since all racing in Britain was suspended on 17 March, shortly after the Cheltenham Festival. The Authority is believed to be planning to stage meetings at courses with on-site hotels to accommodate jockeys and other race-day staff, and published a schedule for the first seven days of a resumption, with 13 meetings at unnamed courses spread throughout the country, at the end of last week. Plans had also been published by the Pattern Committee, which oversees the top-level racing programme, for two weekends of high-class racing at the end of May including several traditional Classic trial, prior to a rescheduled Guineas meeting in early June with the Derby and Oaks to be run in early July. Those plans would now be forced to move back by at least two weeks. Monday’s “roadmap” also raised the possibility that paying spectators will not be allowed into racecourses for many months. The opening of venues such as sports stadia, according to the strategy document, “may only be fully possible significant later depending on the reduction in numbers of infections”. Sottsass and Victor Ludorum, the most high-profile runners on a 10-race card at Longchamp, were both beaten at odds-on as top-class racing resumed in France on Monday. Victor Ludorum only just held on for third place in the Prix de Fontainebleau, a trial for the Poule d’Essai des Poulains (French 2,000 Guineas) on 1 June, as Pierre-Charles Boudot rode a well-judged race from the front on The Summit, a 24-1 outsider. Sottsass, third behind Waldgeist and Enable in last year’s Arc, looked sure to benefit from his return to action but was beaten entering the final furlong in the Group Two Prix D’Harcourt, the feature event on the card. Shaman, trained by Carlos Laffon-Parias, held off Way To Paris by three-quarters of a length with Simona in third. Sottsass was pushed out to 25-1 for the Arc in October, in a market headed by Enable, the winner in 2017 and 2018, at 6-1.