LEXINGTON, Ky. _ No one said trying to conduct a sport during a worldwide pandemic was going to be easy.
Just ask horse racing.
Ask Del Mar. The "Where the Turf Meets the Surf" track in San Diego opened for racing without fans on July 10. Less than a week later, the track announced that it is closing for at least this weekend (July 17-19) after 15 jockeys tested positive for COVID-19.
"Assuming these individuals continue to show no symptoms, they will be isolated for a total of 10 days and should be able to resume their usual activities, including riding after that time," said Dr. Eric McDonald, Medical Director, Epidemiology and Immunizations Services, County of San Diego, in a press release by the track.
"Racing will return on July 24," said Joe Harper, Del Mar's CEO. "Canceling this weekend's races will give us additional time to monitor the situation and give the individuals who tested positive additional time to recover."
Martin Garcia, Luis Saez, Victor Espinoza, Flavien Prat and Florent Geroux are all among the jockeys who have tested positive.
Ask Lone Star. The Arlington, Texas, track had already shut down once over a COVID-19 outbreak. If you happened to read my feature last week on jockey Keith Asmussen, son of trainer Steve Asmussen, that shutdown allowed him to come to Lexington to ride for his father at Keeneland. He returned to Lone Star on Saturday in hopes racing would resume Sunday. Turns out, the track is now expected to be closed until July 19.
"The most recent information we have is that they will not conduct live racing until at least" Sunday, Robert Elrod, public information officer for the Texas Racing Commission, told the Bloodhorse.
And, oh by the way, the sport's biggest name, trainer Bob Baffert, was hit with a 15-day suspension by the Arkansas Racing Commission on Wednesday after his horses Charlatan and Gamine both tested positive for the numbing agent lidocaine on Arkansas Derby day at Oaklawn Park.
But back to the pandemic problems. In reaction to the spread of COVID-19 among the jockeys, the New York Racing Association announced Tuesday that it is closing Saratoga Race Course to out-of-town jockeys until further notice. As well, any NYRA jockey who travels to another racetrack to ride will not be permitted to return to Saratoga, which opens Thursday. Maryland and Ohio announced new protocols that basically laid down the same rules.
"At Saratoga, your jockey colony is pretty strong so I'm not worried about that," said Baffert on the NTRA teleconference Wednesday. "Johnny (Velazquez) is still there. I'm not worried."
The Travers is scheduled for Aug. 8 at Saratoga. Baffert said he will probably point Los Alamitos Derby winner Uncle Chuck toward the Travers.
It was Los Alamitos where many of the COVID-19 cases were believed to have originated. Its June 26 through July 5 meet was apparently responsible for positives by Saez, Garcia, Espinoza and Prat. All rode at the track on July 4.
Speaking of Los Alamitos, the track was required to submit a safety plan to the California Horse Racing Board after 21 horses have died at the track in training or racing this year.
"As we've said before, our industry doesn't work well together," Terence Meyocks, president and CEO of the Jockeys' Guild, told Thoroughbred Daily News in an excellent report on the jockey situation. "And this is one case where (protocols) need to work and we've all got to be on the same page. It's not only the jocks, but the backside, the grooms, the horsemen, and everybody back there. It's very difficult with people close together."
Considering the circumstances, we should be glad Keeneland was able to conduct its five-day meet in totality and with just one COVID-19 incident _ Saez testing positive and being pulled from his mounts last Friday.
