By Bill Finley
Oaklawn President Louis Cella has confirmed that the Oaklawn meet will end as scheduled May 2. Just one of five tracks still operating in the U.S., Oaklawn's handle numbers have soared during the coronavirus outbreak, but Cella, in an email to the TDN, pointed to other reasons why the meet will be ending.
“First, we have no purse money left,” he wrote. “Second, it takes all summer for us to pick up, re-test, re-mix and re-place our entire track cushion, while inspecting the base. We do this annually and it just takes a long time to do it right. Finally, we have two more barns we are building, right in the middle of the backstretch. Wish we could extend, but we cannot. ”
Oaklawn will go out with a bang as the May 2 card will include the GI Arkansas Derby and the GII Oaklawn H.
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