horse racing and coronavirus

After riding the second race at Keeneland today, where he finished second aboard Fortuna (Medaglia d'Oro), jockey Luis Saez received a positive result back from a COVID-19 test he took on Thursday at Keeneland, and was removed from the remainder of his mounts. The news was confirmed by Keeneland's Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Vince Gabbert. Since July 4, Saez has ridden at four different tracks--Keeneland, Belmont, Indiana Grand, and Los Alamitos. "Based on the protocols we set up, we had him and several others isolated based on the...

by Edd Roggenkamp Millions of Americans are in lockdown--bored, grouchy, tired and looking for entertainment at a time when major sports are shut down and people are sick of looking at 20-year-old reruns. What an opportunity to expose millions of new people to the excitement of horse racing. So, I propose a three-month (May-June-July) interim experiment. In several places, horse racing has proven a unique ability to operate safely during these times, with careful and adequate social distancing. Since horses, grooms and riders are already on the grounds, including racing...

Britain on Tuesday joined France, Germany, Italy and Spain in cancelling racing altogether in the midst of coronavirus, its shutdown set to last until the end of April. Today's meetings at Wetherby and Taunton will be the last before the cancellation takes effect. The British Horseracing Authority had announced on Monday that racing would take place behind closed doors until the end of March, but the picture changed when just hours later Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a tightening of protocols including mass gatherings. "This is a national emergency the...