Thoroughbred Park will host their first meeting since the inaugural Canberra Carnival on Friday and their first since the coronavirus pandemic has forced a lot of Australia into lockdown.

Queensland and NSW have both slashed their prize money of some of their feature races, while Victoria is considering cancelling this year's Cox Plate due to the COVID-19 induced financial crisis.

But Canberra will retain their prize money levels for their seven-race meet on Friday, which includes the $40,000 Federal Handicap.

"We haven't needed to make reductions to prize money at this stage," Clark said.

"However, we can't rule that out i the future. This is our first race meeting since Canberra Cup meeting, which was before the current restrictions came into place.

"So we need to assess the wagering turnover impacts on our club.

"There's no doubt hospitality and sponsorship are heavily impacted by the current restrictions, which we're committed to complying with to ensure the health of the community."

MORE CANBERRA SPORT

Racing is the only professional sport still running in Australia at the moment, albeit with strict biosecurity measures in place.

It will be the first time many of the measures will be implemented at Canberra, with their last race meeting Canberra Cup Day.

Luckily for Canberra Racing that was before the coronavirus was in full swing Down Under.

One of the measures in place is that jockeys are restricted to only riding in their regions.

For NSW that's southern, northern and Sydney.

It could provide greater opportunity for Canberra jockeys to get rides, with the Sydney hoopes restricted to the Harbour City.

But on the flipside, it also denies them the chances of riding in the big group races in Sydney as well.

"It would help riders increase the number of rides they've got within their specific areas," Clark said.

"But on the flipside of that as well our riders can't go to Sydney to compete as well. So it does work both ways."

Clark said a number of safety measures would be in place at Canberra for the first time.

They normally have all the jockeys in two rooms - the men's and women's - but now they will have them spread out across five rooms.

The only people allowed to attend are the jockeys, officials and the essential staff attending to the horses.

No crowds, members or owners are allowed on course.

The stables housing the horses will be separated as much as possible, while trainers will need to adhere to social-distancing regulations while watching the race.

They'll also use a fresh set of saddle cloths for each race and encourage trainers to bring fresh silks for every ride as well.

Clark said top trainer Chris Waller said it best.

"I believe Chris Waller said after going to the races on the weekend in Sydney that he felt safer at the races than he did at the supermarket," he said.