LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs officials announced Thursday that no more turf racing will be conducted for the balance of a meet, which runs through Nov. 29, so the two graded races that remained on the stakes schedule will not be run. They are the Grade 3 Cardinal, which had been set for Thursday, and the Grade 3 River City on Friday.

Two-time Grade 1 winner Ce Ce will return for a 5-year-old campaign, trainer Michael McCarthy said this week, while Grade 1 winner Speech and Grade 2 winner Rushie also will return at age 4. All three are being freshened following the Breeders’ Cup.

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A decision regarding participation in the Grade 1 Starlet Dec. 5 at Los Alamitos is still pending for Astute after her Nov. 14 sprint romp in the Desi Arnaz Stakes.

“It’s too soon to tell – it’s a possibility,” trainer Richard Mandella said this week regarding the Starlet.

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Astute earned an 87 Beyer in the Desi Arnaz, the highest figure this year by a California 2-year-old, male or female.

The two-turn challenge facing 2-year-old stakes winner Red Flag will not be resolved until next year, as plans call for the colt to pass the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 19 and aim for a winter campaign at Santa Anita, said trainer John Shirreffs.

Red Flag scored a convincing victory in the seven-furlong Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes on Sunday at Del Mar to apparently emerge as a candidate for the 1 1/16-mile Los Alamitos Futurity. However, Red Flag was not nominated to the Futurity and Shirreffs said he will not be supplemented.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Linda Rice acknowledged giving cash tips to members of the New York Racing Association racing office and gate crew, mostly at Christmas time, over a five-year period from 2010-14, but denied that the money was in exchange for special treatment such as the receipt of confidential information from the racing office when entering horses.

MIAMI – Jesus’ Team is coming off a second-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and is headed for a showdown with the best handicap horses still in training when he launches his 2021 campaign in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park.

But in between, Jesus’ Team will pay homage to his claiming roots when he closes his whirlwind 3-year-old season on Dec. 5 in the $150,000 Claiming Crown Jewel, the richest of nine stakes on the always popular Claiming Crown program, which will be decided for the ninth consecutive year at Gulfstream Park.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Churchill jockey colony will disperse, as usual, to various other tracks when the meet ends Nov. 29. A handful of riders have already left for Fair Grounds, which starts its meet on Thanksgiving Day, with top jockeys such as Florent Geroux, James Graham, Brian Hernandez Jr., and Adam Beschizza scheduled to soon join them in New Orleans.

Tampa Bay Downs will permit spectators in attendance when the 2020-21 meet starts Nov. 25 at the Oldsmar, Fla., track.

Track officials have outlined pandemic-related protocols that spectators and horsemen will be required to follow. The meet runs through May 2.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – An outstanding November might well continue Saturday for Florent Geroux when the 34-year-old French native accepts another live stakes mount from trainer Brad Cox in the Grade 3 Chilukki at Churchill Downs.

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Fair Grounds in New Orleans has announced it will launch its upcoming season spectator-free due to the coronavirus pandemic. The meet opens Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26.

Fair Grounds said it expects to be able to make an announcement next month as to when patrons can start attending the races.  The track’s casino and 12 off-track betting facilities will maintain normal hours, according to the press release.

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