Officials with the Nova Scotia Harness Racing Industry Association (NSHRIA) are pleased to announce that horses will be able to start preparing for the upcoming season of harness racing at the Nova Scotia tracks this week.

Truro Raceway, Inverness Raceway and Northside Downs will be enforcing COVID-19 restrictions. Public Health measures that will be enforced include social distancing and the use of personal protective equipment. No spectators will be allowed on the properties during preparation until further notice.

"Premier Rankin along with Dr. Strang have done a tremendous job in getting COVID-19 under control in our province during this third wave," said the NSHRIA in a statement on Saturday (June 5). "We would like to thank the Honourable Keith Colwell, Department of Agriculture for supporting our proposal to have horses start preparing for the upcoming race season."

The guidelines for Back to Racing, including protocols for the tracks to follow while training and preparing to race will be made available on each track's website.

Dates for horses to start preparing to race are as follows:

► June 12, 2021 at Northside Downs

► Sunday June 13, 2021 at Truro Raceway

► Sunday June 13 and Wednesday 16, 2021 at Inverness Raceway

(NSHRIA)