BRITISH Horseracing Authority chief executive Nick Rust admits racing's six-day shutdown will have cost the sport millions - but insists he "absolutely stands by the decision" with meetings set to resume on Wednesday.

The BHA announced on Monday night that racing would restart after cancelling all events in the wake of positive tests for equine flu at Donald McCain's Cheshire yard.

Six horses there were affected by the virus, with four at Simon Crisford's Newmarket stable also testing positive on Sunday. But racing now resumes with measures in place to help prevent further cases.

The BHA faced criticism for the decision to cancel 23 race meetings - but Rust is adamant there were no real alternatives.

"We think probably several million a day," he said when asked how much the shutdown had cost the racing industry.

"But first and foremost we were focused on what would the disruption be for the animals - we have got to look after the health of the animals.

"We put our hands up when we make errors and we are pretty self-critical where we feel there needs to be improvement from ourselves.

"On this one, faced with the evidence we had, who would have taken the risk with that for the health of horses and the future of racing?

"We would make the same decision again and we absolutely stand by our decision. The BHA team has worked morning, noon and night on this - we will stand back and say 'which bits could have gone even better' - but I think the fundamentals have been spot on."