Triple Crown-winning jockey Victor Espinoza has tested positive for coronavirus and will be out of action for an undetermined period of time, Daily Racing Form reported late Friday. He is the third rider who competed at Los Alamitos Saturday, July 4, who has tested positive. Jockey Martin Garcia was en route to ride the Indiana Derby program at Indiana Grand Wednesday when he was informed of his positive, while Luis Saez, who was aboard Uncle Chuck in the GIII Los Alamitos Derby, rode two races at Keeneland Friday before his agent Kiaran McLaughlin confirmed the result. In contrast to Garcia and Saez, Espinoza had not traveled anywhere by plane.
DRF reported that Espinoza was tested Thursday with the expectation that the results would be in hand by the 2 p.m. opener of the Del Mar meeting Friday afternoon. Espinoza took off his mounts when the results had not yet been returned. Espinoza's agent Brian Beach told DRF that Espinoza was able to secure a test Friday from the nearby Scripps hospital, where he rehabbed from serious injuries in 2018. The test was quickly processed and the results came back later in the afternoon, confirming the positive.
Espinoza is a three-time Kentucky Derby winner and piloted American Pharoah to the Triple Crown in 2015.
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