LEXINGTON, Ky. _ A stable worker at Keeneland's training track on Paris Pike tested positive for the coronavirus, the track confirmed.
The woman, who is a hot walker (someone who walks horses as they cool down), works at the Thoroughbred Center, said Vince Gabbert, Keeneland vice president and COO. She tested positive about three weeks ago and has recovered and returned to work. One of her family members, who also works in the training center barns, also self-quarantined.
Gabbert said that another stable employee at Keeneland's Rice Road barn area self-quarantined after a family member tested positive for COVID-19.
In both cases, the employees work for trainers who are part of the Lexington racetrack's resident barn population and neither had sent horses out of state to race.
A small number of horses have shipped to the handful of tracks that are still conducting live racing and returned uneventfully, Gabbert said.
"We're tracking people shipping in and out, but not much shipping is going on," Gabbert said.
No Keeneland or training center employees have tested positive, he said. And there have been no other cases, he said.
Keeneland adopted measures in March designed to reduce the risk of transmission and to detect illness, including instituting temperature checks for those coming on the grounds and limiting access to those with business there.
Gabbert said that the low number of cases linked to the racetrack show that the measures are working, something that could be key as Keeneland and Churchill Downs request dates for racing this summer.
"We're following the right protocols and we will continue to do so, he said.
Keeneland is planning to hold its crucial September yearling sale as scheduled; the track also is planning to host the Breeders' Cup World Championships in early November.
On March 16, Keeneland canceled its entire spring race meet, after initially planning to host the first two weeks without spectators. At the time, the CDC had issued guidance against gatherings with large numbers of spectators for at least eight weeks.
Churchill Downs also has postponed the Kentucky Derby, which has been rescheduled for Labor Day weekend.
