spectator-free racing

Five stakes races--three of which are graded--highlight the 2020 Los Angeles County Fair Winter Thoroughbred meet at Los Alamitos. The season will begin Friday, Dec. 4 and continue through Sunday, Dec. 20. Racing is scheduled to be conducted Friday-Sunday the first week (Dec. 4-6) and Thursday-Sunday the final two weeks (Dec. 10-13 and Dec. 17-20). Post time will be 1 p.m. on weekdays and 12:30 p.m. on weekends. The $300,000 GI Starlet S. and the $200,000 GII Los Alamitos Futurity will be run, respectively, Saturday, Dec. 5 and Saturday, Dec....

   Usually held the first weekend in May, the Kentucky Derby has been viewed as the unofficial start of the summer season and the U.S. Open on Labor Day weekend has been a fitting bookend to this season. This year, due to COVID, sports fans will have the opportunity to enjoy these events which transcend their respective sport at the same time. Both mainstream cultural phenomena will be held with zero spectators this year, however the U.S. Open made the decision early on to go spectator free and their partners...

Paul Pompa's Country Grammer (Tonalist) was ultra-game in securing his first black-type score in the rescheduled and relocated GIII Peter Pan S. on Saratoga's opening day Thursday. Saving ground in fourth, the 4-1 shot sat a few lengths off the longshot pacesetter Mo Hawk (Uncle Mo) through a :23.24 opening quarter and closed the gap a bit, moving into third as the half went in :48.13. The bay inched up the fence as 22-1 shot Celtic Striker (Congrats) ranged up outside the leader with Caracaro (Uncle Mo) hot on his...

Tim Hamm and Siena Farms' Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief) was completely dismissed at 19-1 in the GIII Schuylerville S., the first graded stakes of the Saratoga meet Thursday, but she will not be overlooked again after a dominant victory. Ignored by the bettors despite a 4 3/4-length debut graduation at Gulfstream May 14, the dark bay stalked from a two-wide third as Make Mischief (Into Mischief) led Hara (Hard Spun) through an opening quarter in :22.29. Inching closer as the half went up in :45.57, Dayoutoftheoffice collared the pacesetter in early...

Del Mar has cancelled its weekend racing--scheduled to run Friday through Sunday--because of multiple jockeys testing positive for COVID-19, as first reported in Daily Racing Form. In a subsequent press release Wednesday afternoon, Del Mar explained that all of the track's jockeys and jockey room personnel were tested on Tuesday by San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency staff, with 15 jockeys showing up positive for COVID-19. All were reportedly asymptomatic. "Assuming these individuals continue to show no symptoms, they will be isolated for a total of 10 days...

The New York State Gaming Commission announced Wednesday that licensed owners will be permitted to watch their horses train and race at New York tracks. The ban on spectators for the racing programs remains in effect. The change in policy for owners was made the day before the start of the Thoroughbred racing season at Saratoga Race Course. According to the commission's news release, once the overnight list of entries is published, licensed owners must make reservations in advance with the racing office to attend a race. No same-day requests...

Jockey Florent Geroux has joined a growing list of prominent jockeys who have tested positive for the coronavirus. Geroux was scheduled to ride Wednesday at Canterbury Park and had to take a test before he would be allowed to ride there. He took the test Monday and came up positive. "I don't really have any symptoms," Georux said. "I was a little bit tired Monday, but I had a long week last week. I didn't have any shortness of breath or anything like that." In less than a week, jockeys...

The New York Racing Association, Inc. will celebrate the work of non-profit organizations by taking its Community Outreach Booth program online during the 2020 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course, which begins Thursday, July 16 and runs through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7. The Virtual Community Outreach Booth program will highlight a total of 40 non-profits throughout the season by sharing information about their work and fundraising initiatives at NYRA.com/community. "As we look ahead to a unique racing season, it is important to NYRA that we continue to highlight the...

ELMONT, NY - After winning a contest in the New York Daily News back in 1979, John Imbriale got his first taste of the announcer's booth and press office at the New York Racing Association, and has been part of the fabric at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga ever since. A jack of all trades, Imbriale served as a backup to the legendary racecaller Tom Durkin beginning in 1990 and has held several behind-the-scenes roles with NYRA TV throughout the years as well. Appointed to the position of head announcer in...

Gulfstream Park will reopen its casino Thursday, June 18, it was announced Thursday. The newly redesigned casino floor will open Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Gulfstream is following all recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state and local authorities and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Gulfstream's reopening plan has also been approved by Broward County, the City of Hallandale Beach and the Florida Department of Business...

Breeders' Cup in conjunction with The Jockey Club announced Thursday a new national advertising campaign called 'Still. Running. Strong.' to promote Thoroughbred racing as spectator-free racing resumes in various markets around the country during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic. KTA and TOBA issued the following joint statement late Thursday evening. "KTA and TOBA have made contributions to support to a newly created national advertising campaign titled "Still. Running. Strong." The campaign was announced [Thursday] by The Jockey Club and Breeders' Cup Limited. As representatives of Thoroughbred owners and breeders...

As the meet was winding down Wednesday on the final day of racing in 2020 at Fonner Park, trainer Kelli Martinez was getting ready to ship her stable to Prairie Meadows. The Fonner meet was a good one for Martinez, who was second in the standings entering the day with 35 winners, and she was in no hurry to leave. It wasn't just the winners, it was the memories that she would be leaving behind. "It was a stressful meet but it was a very different and very successful year...