Aqueduct will continue to race without spectators

While many businesses in and around the New York metropolitan area will be shutting down due to the coronavirus pandemic, plans call for live racing to continue at Aqueduct, though with increased restrictions, the New York Racing Association announced Monday.

Aqueduct, which raced three days last week without fans ontrack, is scheduled to hold an eight-race card Friday. Aqueduct is scheduled to race Fridays through Sundays through March. Aqueduct has 13 cards scheduled in April before racing is scheduled to move to Belmont Park on April 24.

Aqueduct raced last weekend with certain restrictions, such as allowing owners access only to a horsemen’s lounge on the second floor of the track. Starting Friday, owners will be completely barred from Aqueduct as well as the barn area at Belmont Park.

“The health and safety of employees, fans, horsemen, and the backstretch community is paramount,” NYRA president and CEO Dave O’Rourke said in a press release. “Now that we have experienced racing under these conditions for three days, we remain confident in our ability to safely conduct racing operations behind closed doors and with only the staff that are required under the rules of racing in New York. Of course, we will constantly evaluate this situation over the coming days in advance of Friday and make further adjustments as necessary.”

NYRA said only staff essential to officiate and report on live racing per New York State Gaming Commission rules, including, but not limited to, stewards, trainers, assistant trainers, and grooms, will be permitted on-site.

Many people felt racing operations went well at Aqueduct last weekend. From a business perspective, all-sources handle at Aqueduct for the week was $17,403,067. That was an 8.5 percent decrease from a similar three-day period (March 15-17) last year. In addition to a worldwide pandemic impacting business this year, last year’s handle was likely aided by the fact Santa Anita was not conducting live racing.

Aqueduct’s announcement to stay open came on the same day that Keeneland announced it was canceling its entire spring meet and Monmouth Park announced it was pushing back its opening day from May 2 to May 23.

On Monday morning, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced that all three states would be limiting gatherings to 50 people or fewer. In a joint release, the governors announced that casinos, gyms, and movie theatres would be shutting down as of 8 p.m. Monday.

A mention of that announcement on the News 12 Long Island website also included racetracks, but that was from a release on Murphy’s website. The Meadowlands, Freehold Raceway, and an offtrack betting facility in Bayonne, N.J., were ordered shut down.

Cuomo never specifically mentioned racetracks during a Monday morning press conference in Albany. His press release also did not mention racetracks.

At 9 a.m. Monday, Resorts World New York City, the casino that shares a building with Aqueduct, announced it was closing for an initial period of two weeks. Resorts World had been operating through the weekend, limiting capacity to 500 patrons at one time.