Irish bookmakers and Cheltenham racecourse management were keeping up a brave front yesterday as the foot-and-mouth scare continues.
"There are serious implications for the whole racing industry," a spokesman for book maker Paddy Power said. "Our turnover alone for the three-day festival is upwards of £5 million." The precedent of the 1967 foot-and-mouth outbreak, when all race meetings were cancelled, left no one in any doubt about the seriousness of the situation.
"We have to take it that there is a definite possibility that Cheltenham could be cancelled. In any event, if the disease spreads there is no chance of Irish horses travelling."
This would be a bitter blow for Irish punters, especially with the J. P. McManus-owned Istabraq expected to take the Champions Hurdle for the fourth time. A second McManus horse, the French-trained First Gold, is favourite to win the Gold Cup.
Cheltenham spokesman Peter McNeille said: "We are currently monitoring the situation with the Jockey Club and Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. We are quite hopeful." So far a couple of cases of the disease have been proved, none within the vicinity of Cheltenham. A suspected farm in Gloucestershire was "more than 25 miles away".