THE immigrant crisis which has affected cross-channel traffic at the French port of Calais has not affected the two Irish runners in Sunday’s Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest in Deauville.

The Tracey Collins-trained Majestic Queen will travel by air to Deauville today, transport organised by the filly’s new owners Godolphin. Meanwhile, the Tom Hogan-trained Gordon Lord Byron is already in Deauville having successfully avoided any delays by travelling via Portsmouth and Le Havre.

Patrick Keane of Ballinroe International Horse Transport, the company which took Gordon Lord Byron to France, reported: “The problems are on the Dover-Calais route though the situation changes week-by-week. We have boxes on that route this week and it’s fine, but there were significant delays a few weeks ago when the refugee numbers escalated.”

Keane says that horseboxes are faring much better than freight trucks as they are being given preference by border officials. “Anything carrying livestock is being waved through. We’ve never had a problem with immigrants trying to gain entry to a horsebox. Once a few years ago a man climbed into the tack area at the side of one of our lorries.

“It happened at a services stop a few miles from the port and he was discovered before we went on the ferry. It’s a tragic situation seeing so many people prepared to risk their lives to enter a new country.”

Le Havre is just an hour’s drive from Deauville and Keane says that Irish yearlings heading to the Arqana sales later this month are likely to go that route also.