Horsemen notified that Fair Grounds will remain open for training through April 11

Fair Grounds racing officials sent to horsemen early Sunday afternoon a message outlining a training schedule extending through April 11, alleviating concerns that arose from a letter sent Saturday night from Fair Grounds president Doug Shipley to the Louisiana Racing Commission. That letter, according to multiple sources who’d seen it, suggested Fair Grounds would have to halt training in response to a Stay Home Mandate issued by New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell on March 20 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Shipley’s letter, sources said, urged horsemen to leave the Fair Grounds backstretch as soon as possible, but Fair Grounds, a Churchill Downs Inc. company, is subject to an emergency rule passed Friday by the Louisiana Racing Commission requiring the state’s racetracks to permit horses stabled on their grounds to “shelter in place” for 30 days.

Boyd Gaming, which owns Delta Downs in Vinton, Louisiana and Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, Louisiana, won a temporary restraining order last week from a Louisiana court challenging three of the four provisions in the LRC’s emergency rule.

Boyd isn’t challenging the part of the order requiring track operators to “allow horsemen and horses to shelter in place without threat of eviction,” but wants the court to overturn the parts of the rule that require them to provide training access, to “allow the customary movement of horsemen,” and to implement the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s recommended responses to the coronavirus pandemic.

Fair Grounds late Saturday morning sent a batch text to horsemen saying the 2019-20 meet would halt after the Louisiana Derby card Saturday afternoon. A news release regarding the cancellation of the meet’s final six racing days came after the card had been completed and cited the mayor’s Stay Home Mandate in the decision to end the season early.

The schedule that came Sunday from the Fair Grounds racing office said training will be conducted Tuesday, March 24 through Saturday, March 28; Tuesday, March 31 through Saturday, April 4; and Tuesday, April 7 through Saturday, April 11.

Fair Grounds racing officials Sunday didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, and the Fair Grounds executive offices were closed.