Coronavirus pandemic prompts Fair Grounds to end meet after Saturday's Louisiana Derby card

Joining a host of other American racetracks, Fair Grounds in New Orleans announced that after Saturday's card it would curtail its racing season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, canceling the last six racing days of the 2019-2020 meet.

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The decision became known midday Saturday when the Churchill Downs Inc.-owned racetrack and slot-machine casino sent a notification to horsemen subscribed to its text-messaging alert system. Fair Grounds has been racing spectator-free and will squeeze in Saturday’s meet-highlight Louisiana Derby program before pulling the plug on a season that began Nov. 19 and was scheduled to conclude Sunday, March 29.

COVID-19 has become increasingly worrisome in Louisiana, and on Friday governor John Bel Edwards said in a press conference that the viral outbreak could soon overwhelm the state’s healthcare-system capacity.

Also on Friday, the Louisiana Racing Commission passed an emergency order requiring that the state’s racetracks permit any horse stabled on a backstretch to remain in the location for 30 days. The order was passed after Evangeline Downs told horsemen they’d have to vacate the stables by March 18, and it keeps the Fair Grounds stabling area open much longer than would be the case in a normal year.