The entire racing industry will be praying the latest outbreak of Equine Influenza does not escalate to anything like the disruption caused by the 2001 outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease which devastated the agricultural industry and severely dented racing and tourism.

What started as an outbreak in an Essex abattoir on February 21 saw meetings cancelled across the country with the sport completely suspended for a seven-day period from February 27 when racing in Ireland was halted indefinitely.

Tracks which fell inside exclusion zones created around infected farms were prevented from racing. In two months of disruptions, over 60 meetings were lost and the point-to-point programme brought to a halt.

The racing industry will hope the latest flu outbreak is not as damaging as the 2001 foot-and-mouth epidemic that devastated the agricultural industry and dented both racing and tourism

The most significant loss was Cheltenham Festival. The biggest meeting of the year was postponed on March 7 after it was discovered a flock of sheep had been grazing on land adjacent to the racecourse.

The Festival was re-scheduled to be staged from April 17-19 but was cancelled completely on April 1 when another outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease was confirmed at a farm five miles from Cheltenham.

The Cheltenham cancellation cost the betting industry an estimated £100million. The festival attracts 200,000 spectators, many of them staying in nearby hotels, and the local economy took a hit estimated to be worth £10m.

Four days after the Festival, the Grand National meeting was able to take place on the urban site of Aintree racecourse in Liverpool with Foot and Mouth precautions in place. 

Cheltenham Festival had to be cancelled in 2001 and it cost the betting industry £100million

Bernardo Silva has promised Manchester City will capitalise on an unexpected second chance after admitting he felt they had ‘lost’ the Premier League.

Pep Guardiola‘s side reclaimed first place for the first time in 52 days when beating Everton on Wednesday and that 2-0 triumph has made them odds-on favourites to retain the title they won so spectacularly last season.

It also completed a remarkable transformation as City have whittled down a gap that at one stage was seven points between themselves and Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp‘s men may have played a game less but Bernardo believes the momentum is now with the champions.

Bernardo Silva was worried that Manchester City’s Premier League title chances were over

The bounce evident in City’s players as they left Goodison Park — music from their dressing room pumped out at full volume for 40 minutes after the final whistle — was a far cry from how they felt at Newcastle 10 days ago when the 2-1 defeat looked to have huge ramifications.

‘A few days ago we thought we had lost the Premier League,’ said Bernardo. ‘Now we are top, even if it because we have played one game more. It is good. It is good to be back in the race and we will do our best to win all our games and do our job. That is the most important thing for now.

‘After Newcastle it was very tough on us. We were very disappointed, more than anyone else. The players, the staff… we were all very sad because we all thought we had lost the league in that game. Fortunately, Liverpool drew against Leicester and that gave us a little bit of hope.

The Portuguese playmaker has become a pivotal player under Pep Guardiola this season

‘Then there was another draw against West Ham and that means the race is now on. Mentally, it is a big boost for us. We will try to keep doing our job and don’t relax as we did against Newcastle. We know what it means to win. We are still the champions and we know what we have to do to win it.’

Bernardo has become increasingly instrumental and it speaks volumes for how Guardiola regards him that Aymeric Laporte and Fernandinho are the only outfield players to have started more Premier League games this season than the 24-year-old.

His technical ability is special but so, too, is his endurance for he averages 12.24km per game, which is the highest figure in City’s squad.

Stamina, though, is something City will require in their pursuit of four trophies. Before the end of the month they could a step nearer to a clean sweep with an FA Cup date at Newport, the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea and the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie with Schalke.

Guardiola complained about the hectic schedule City are likely to face but Bernardo said: ‘In my opinion it is not problematic at all — especially when you have a squad like ours. If we don’t have injuries — and I hope that we don’t — then I think we can cope, no problem at all.

‘The worst thing for us is having to wait to play, when you have seven days or 10 days between games. It is so boring when you have seven days without a game. This is what we love. It is good to have lots of games as it means we are fighting for everything. Mentally it is good. We’ll try to do it.’ 

City are also hopeful of strengthening their ties with China by agreeing a pre-season tour in Asia.

They are expected to play at least three matches there in July with Japan mooted as a destination for another potential date.

Chinese consortium CMC owns 13 per cent of the club after a £265million investment.