Churchill Downs plans to resume racing May 16

Churchill Downs announced Thursday that it plans to begin its spring meet without spectators on Saturday, May 16.

The track will card races on Saturday and Sunday during the first week and will race Thursdays through Sundays in subsequent weeks. A special Memorial Day card will be offered on Monday, May 25. First post for each race day is 1 p.m. Eastern.

The announcement came a day after Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared that the Churchill Downs backstretch could reopen on Monday, May 11.

Churchill has instituted a schedule for horsemen moving into the barn area, accepting horses from Fair Grounds in New Orleans on May 11-13; from Gulfstream Park in Florida from May 14-16; from Oaklawn Park in Arkansas from May 17-19, and from all other locales beginning on May 20.

The Churchill spring meet was scheduled to begin April 25, but all racing activity was shut down in Kentucky after the March 25 card at Turfway Park due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In a press release, Churchill Downs said that Ben Huffman, vice president of racing, is putting together a condition book that will include a revised stakes schedule. The condition book was expected to be available online to horsemen later this weekend.

In mid-March Churchill announced that it was moving the Kentucky Derby and its related Derby week stakes to Sept. 5.

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