Coronavirus

Golden Gate Fields will reopen the racetrack to a limited capacity of fans starting Friday, Apr. 16, for the remainder of the winter/spring meet that runs through June 13. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, fans will be required to reserve tickets for the duration of the meet. General admission and walk-ups are not permitted at this time. Fans are encouraged to sign-up online to be the first to receive notification when tickets go on sale. Reopening protocols will include social distancing, mandatory masking when not actively eating or drinking, contactless thermal...

With a government-enforced 28-day lockdown set to take effect in the province of Ontario Thursday, Apr. 8 at 12:01 a.m., officials at Woodbine Racetrack announced late Wednesday that the planned opening of the 2021 meet would be delayed. Woodbine will continue to engage in dialogue with government officials and local health authorities in an effort to gain permission to operate a live meet during a lockdown situation in which they would try to begin operations once the stay-at-home order is lifted May 6. "This is very difficult news to share...

The Henry Cecil Open Weekend, slated for Sept. 18-19 this year, will welcome visitors back to Newmarket for the first time since 2019. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the event, which normally features racing and equine enthusiasts visiting training yards, into a virtual format for the first time. A total of £48,000 was raised for its three chosen beneficiaries-Racing Welfare (80%), the British Racing School (10%) and the Racing Centre (10%). This year, Racing Welfare, the newly formed Newmarket Pony Academy and a soon to be announced community project...

According to statistics released Monday by Equibase, daily average wagering and average purses per race day each saw significant increases in the period from Jan. 31-Mar. 31, 2021 when compared to the same time frame in 2020. Total wagering in the three-month period was reported at $2.776 billion, an increase of 10.27% over last year, with daily average wagering at $3,611,092, which represented a 14.15% improvement from 12 months ago. Nearly $215 million in purses were disbursed from January through March, some 4.6% better than last year, with several tracks...

The card for the 84th GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby produced all-sources pari-mutuel handle of $24,282,400 Saturday. This was the largest Santa Anita Derby day handle since 2007. In addition, fans returned to the Arcadia oval on a restricted basis, with 8,246 on-track for the 12-race program. It was the first time in over a year that fans were allowed back at Santa Anita since the COVID-19 pandemic began last winter. Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}) saluted in the day's feature event, the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby for...

The Ontario government has put in place new COVID-19 restrictions that will last a minium of four weeks and include a ban on horse racing. What is being called an "emergency brake" went into effect Saturday, putting the Apr. 17 opener at Woodbine in doubt. Its sister track, the harness facility Mohawk Park, was not able to run on Saturday and will be shut down indefinitely. There were 2,557 reported cases of COVID-19 Thursday in Ontario, the most in a single day since Jan. 22. While understanding the seriousness of...

What a difference a year makes. Last March, when the coronavirus pandemic first descended upon America, the cancellation of sporting events left and right drove home, like few other signs did, how serious the situation was. In the racing world, there was arguably no greater loss of normalcy at that time than was felt when Keeneland was forced to scrap its iconic spring meet. And while races eventually returned to the central Kentucky oval, fans didn't for the entirety of 2020. Friday, the familiar sights of April in Lexington--the colorful...

UK racing organisations welcomed the news that the racing industry would receive £21 million in loan support, which was announced late on Sunday evening. The loan is to assist with the continuing financial fallout due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA), Racecourse Association (RCA) and The Horsemen's Group released a joint statement in response on Monday morning. The statement read: "The leaders of British racing have welcomed the announcement that around £21 million of loan funding will be made available to the sport through the Sports...

The UK Government will give the UK racing industry £21 million in loan support to help ease the financial fallout of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Other spectator sport industries to benefit from this latest round of financial aid from the Sport Winter Survival Package are the rugby league, speedway and drag racing and football clubs from the top six tiers of the National League system. In November, it was announced that British racing would receive £40 million in government loans as part of the £300 million Sport Winter Survival Package....

The New York Racing Association issued a statement Wednesday regarding it ongoing efforts to welcome fans back for the upcoming Belmont Park and Saratoga Racecourse meets. Horse and auto racing were omitted from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's guidance last week relating to reopening sporting events to the public in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic. "Governor Cuomo's decision to expand capacity limits for sports fans beginning this April is incredibly positive news as we look toward the spring and summer," said NYRA's Pat McKEnna. "NYRA will work closely with...

NYRA has announced its COVID-19 health and safety protocols for jockeys competing at the 2021 Aqueduct Racetrack spring meet, which will run Apr. 1 through Apr. 18. NYRA will continue to permit out of town jockeys to compete at Aqueduct during the 2021 spring meet. Those jockeys must provide a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken in New York State within 48 hours of the day they intend to compete at Aqueduct. Out of town jockeys will be provided isolated jockey quarters at Aqueduct. Members of the regular NYRA jockey colony...

Bidding began for the Tattersalls Online March Sale on Mar. 22 and will remain open until the first lot closes at 12 p.m. on Tuesday, with successive lots closing in two minute intervals. Among the 30 lots is the final Brittas House Stud dispersal, featuring the Galileo (Ire) mare Zee Zee Gee (GB) (lot 6), herself a daughter of Group 1 winner Zee Zee Top (GB) (Zafonic). Her 2020 filly by No Nay Never is offered as lot 5. Brittas also consigns lot 4, We Are Ninety (Ire) (Thewayyouare), with...