Indiana Grand places restrictions on jockeys

Indiana Grand in Shelbyville will require jockeys to ride exclusively at the track beginning this Friday under a new policy put in place one day after a rider on his way to the facility was informed that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Under the new policy, any jockey who accepts a mount on Friday will be covered by the new policy, the track said. The track will only allow other riders onto the grounds if they have quarantined for 14 days and test negative for coronavirus.

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Also under the policy, if a jockey that is riding at Indiana Grand “enters another jockeys’ quarters at another racetrack,” that rider will also need to quarantine for 14 days and test negative before being allowed back on the grounds.

The track said that it implemented the new policy in consultation with the state’s racing commission.

On Wednesday, just prior to the track’s stakes-laden card that afternoon and evening, Martin Garcia was informed that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus after being sampled at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington on Tuesday. Over the previous week, Garcia had ridden at Prairie Meadows in Iowa, Los Alamitos in Southern California, Indiana Grand, and Ellis Park in Kentucky.

Garcia’s agent said on Wednesday that the rider was asymptomatic for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Under regulations in place at racetracks that have reopened, Garcia will need to quarantine for at least two weeks and test negative for coronavirus before he is allowed to ride again.