Barely a week after racing resumed in France, the sport there suffered a major blow on Tuesday when a new government decree said it could not continue in areas particularly affected by Covid-19, described as red zones. That means most of the major tracks will have to be shuttered once more, including Longchamp, Chantilly and Auteuil, which was due to stage the French version of jump racing’s Gold Cup a week on Sunday. The news will cause many a furrowed brow among British racing officials, desperate to convince ministers that it will be safe for the sport here to resume from 1 June. A successful resumption over the Channel seemed a significant point in their favour but in view of such a rapid backtrack they may now feel inclined to pretend France does not exist. The French sport can continue in green zones, which include a lot of lower-profile tracks as well as Deauville, which will surely now stage the French 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas early next month. One possible question, yet to be addressed by officials, is whether the large number of trainers based at Chantilly will still be allowed to send their horses to racecourses in green zones. France-Galop, the ruling body, broke the news by announcing it had heard on Tuesday of a new governmental decree to be published in the coming days which would prevent racing taking place in red zones. Its statement pointed out that the specified sanitary measures had been strictly observed since racing resumed at Longchamp at the beginning of last week and no problems are known to have arisen. Officials are hastily redrafting the fixture list from Thursday, when the new law is expected to take effect. In the meantime they may have to consider whether someone powerful is lobbying against them, as there was a previous attempt to change the government’s mind about resumption a fortnight ago. Meanwhile, Charlie Appleby has broken his silence to enthuse over Pinatubo, hot favourite for the 2,000 Guineas, scheduled for 6 June. “He has grown and strengthened over winter,” the Newmarket trainer said of a horse who was the highest-rated juvenile in Europe for 25 years and is no bigger than 6-5 in the betting for the year’s first Classic. “We are not going to have conclusive proof until the Guineas but my gut feeling is that Pinatubo has trained on. His demeanour is the same from two to three. He remains totally relaxed. Provided there are no hiccups, I think he will give a very good account of himself.”