Indiana Grand in Shelbyville will require jockeys to ride exclusively at the track beginning this Friday under a new policy put in place one day after a rider on his way to the facility was informed that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Under the new policy, any jockey who accepts a mount on Friday will be covered by the new policy, the track said. The track will only allow other riders onto the grounds if they have quarantined for 14 days and test negative for coronavirus.
Finger Lakes racetrack in upstate New York has pushed back its planned reopening by one week and will resume live racing on July 20, the track’s racing secretary said on Thursday.
Finger Lakes, which was initially scheduled to open its live meet on April 25, had previously announced that the track would reopen on July 13. The track’s racing office was scheduled to take entries for that date on Monday. But Fred Hutton, the track’s racing secretary, said that the opening had to be delayed to iron out some issues.
Martin Garcia, the journeyman jockey, has been informed by Kentucky health officials that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to his agent.
Garcia was on his way to Indiana Grand in Shelbyville, where he had a mount in a stakes race Wednesday night, when he received news of the positive test, according to his agent, Jay Fedor. Garcia was tested Tuesday at Keeneland, Fedor said, as a condition of riding at the track during its five-day summer meet.
Fedor said that Garcia had not displayed any symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Trainers Rafael DeLeon and Gary Mandella were recently fined by Los Alamitos stewards for violations at Santa Anita earlier this year.
DeLeon was fined $750 for failing to disclose that Broken Finger was scheduled to race as a gelding on May 22 in his debut. Broken Finger was withdrawn and was later sixth in maiden races at Santa Anita on June 1 and June 15.
Trainers are required to correctly report if a horse is racing as a gelding, even first-time starters.
The coronavirus outbreak has affected more than just the people who own and operate racing stables.
In the spring, when racing was temporarily halted at Santa Anita because of the pandemic, trainer Shelbe Ruis gave the 4-year-old filly Sedamar a brief rest.
“We didn’t know when the next race would be,” Ruis recalled Wednesday.
When racing resumed at Santa Anita, Sedamar finished second to Super Patriot by 1 3/4 lengths in the Fran’s Valentine Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race on turf for California-bred fillies and mares on June 6.
By My Standards and Mr. Money, the standout 4-year-olds in the Bret Calhoun barn, are training toward Aug. 1 starts. By My Standards goes next in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga, and Mr. Money goes in the West Virginia Governor’s Cup at Mountaineer.
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Churchill has released the balance of the stakes schedule for Kentucky Derby week (Sept. 1-5) with the Grade 1 Churchill Downs being the most notable absentee from the traditional slate. Grade 1 races such as the Old Forester Turf Classic, the La Troienne, and the newly named Derby City (formerly Humana) Distaff will be run as usual on the Oaks and Derby undercards.
There was some question as to whether Rushing Fall would ever race again after finishing a dull fourth as the favorite in the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland last fall. But when the now 5-year-old mare returned from a freshening over the winter, her owner, Bob Edwards of eFive Racing, felt compelled to give her a shot at redemption.
“We didn’t want her to end on that note,” Edwards said. “When she came back, she’d put on weight and was carrying great flesh. She just had that look about her.”
ELMONT, N.Y. – Among the many new looks at Saratoga this summer will be the co-feature on Thursday’s opening-day program, the Grade 3, $100,000 Peter Pan Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles.
Typically run in May as a prep for the Belmont Stakes, the Peter Pan was moved to this spot for horsemen to consider using as a prep for the Runhappy Travers on Aug. 8 or, perhaps as a stepping-stone to the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5. The Peter Pan offers 85 points (50-20-10-5) to its top four finishers toward the Derby.
Two invaders from California and one from Florida comprise half the field of 3-year-old fillies in the Grade 1, $400,000 Ashland Stakes, a major prep on the road to the Kentucky Oaks.
Venetian Harbor and Speech are in from California, while Tonalist’s Shape is in from Florida for the Ashland, which will be run Saturday at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., for the 83rd time. The 1 1/16-mile race is worth 100-40-20-10 points toward the Sept. 4 Kentucky Oaks.
