The French raiding team for the Cheltenham Festival was
virtually ruled out today after the country's government announced a two-week ban on the movement of horses.
French Agriculture Minister Jean Glavany has banned the transport of animals because of fears over foot-and-mouth and although horses cannot be infected they have been included for fears that they could carry the disease.
French horse racing authorities have also cancelled a race meeting at Maisons-Laffitte set for Tuesday.
Louis Romanet, chief of France Galop, admitted that it was now unlikely that any horses would be able to cross the Channel to take part in Britain's showpiece jumps meeting.
Romanet said: "Our Government is being even stricter than they are in Britain and it is unlikely that our horses will be able to travel to Cheltenham.
"They have brought in a ban of transporting horses in vans for two weeks. It means we can only have racing where horses are stabled at the track.
"It's a great shame for our trainers but we are going to hold further talks with our agriculture ministry tonight and tomorrow to see if we can agree a code of practice to allow the movement of horses."
Even if Cheltenham is given the go-ahead next week it will be a much-diluted affair with the French runners likely to join the Irish on the absentee list.
Additional reporting PA
