Following her triumph in the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket last October, Juddmonte homebred Quadrilateral rightly became a leading candidate for this year’s QIPCO 1,000 Guineas.

The coronavirus pandemic, which has left British racing suspended indefinitely, means the Guineas races must now be rescheduled at a later date.

Despite the uncertainty around when racing will resume, Quadrilateral’s trainer, Roger Charlton, is keeping the daughter of Frankel to a normal routine.

He said: “She was ready to start work and then racing was delayed. We’ve just carried on with a normal routine, keeping her ticking over rather than doing anything excessive. From that point of view, it’s been pretty straightforward.

“The authorities in racing are formulating a plan; when the go ahead is given, racing behind closed doors is very feasible.

“We have to run when the opportunities come up and we’re looking forward to running all the horses, including Quadrilateral, when we can.”

“Our daily routine is still normal, and nothing has been disrupted”

Charlton also has plenty to look forward to this year with Headman, another Juddmonte homebred who was victorious in two French Group 2s, the Prix Eugene Adam and Prix Guillaume d’Ornano, last season.

The four-year-old, who is by Khalid Abdullah’s exciting young sire Kingman, has remained in training and Charlton said: “I hope he has size and scope and that he can progress if we get the opportunity to get back to the races.

“Kingman had a great start, particularly with his colts, and he’s got some promising four-year-olds around. His yearlings sold well and Headman would be near the top of his group of colts.”

Like others in the industry, Charlton’s yard has had to adapt to the new measures brought in by the government relating to social distancing while still exercising the horses.

“We are practising discipline in the yard where people don’t share common parts and we keep away from each other,” added Charlton. “There are lots of hand sanitisers in the yard and there’s a lot of disinfecting going on – we’re doing everything that we can.

“The rest of the time, the welfare, care, feeding and exercising of horses is our prime job. It’s very frustrating for everybody but then we’re in a better position than a lot of people that don’t have a job. We just have to sit quietly and wait for the green light from the government.

“Our daily routine is still normal, and nothing has been disrupted. There is plenty of staff around because jumping yards have closed down earlier than expected so there are conditional jockeys that are riding out for me.”