Jockeys for Kentucky Derby must arrive on Churchill grounds by Aug. 31

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jockeys who intend to ride in the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs in Louisville will be required to be on the grounds by Aug. 31, according to a document distributed by Churchill.

The list of protocols, which was distributed to the Jockeys’ Guild on Thursday night, will enable jockeys to ride at their home tracks through the weekend of Aug. 29-30, an element of the plan that was considered critical for some riders who have top-class mounts at the stakes-rich meets at Saratoga Racecourse in upstate New York and Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Southern California.

Most tracks across the U.S. have currently closed their jockey colonies unless a rider conducts a 14-day quarantine prior to gaining access to the grounds. Churchill has been wrestling with an exception to those standards due to the fact that the Derby is considered a must-ride opportunity for nearly all jockeys, but the prospect of the riders sitting out two weeks in the midst of the major summer meets was also giving many of them pause.

Terry Meyocks, the president of the guild, said on Friday that the organization accepts the protocols, which will require riders to test negative for the coronavirus on three occasions prior to the Derby.

“Under these circumstances, we are satisfied that the Department of Health has had input into these protocols, which in turn is in the best interest of our riders’ well-being, and helping our industry at the same time,” Meyocks said.

Under the protocols, jockeys who intend to ride at the special five-day Churchill meet beginning Sept. 1 must notify the track by Aug. 18 of their intention to ride, and that the notification must include all contact information for the rider and the rider’s current location. The document also says that any jockey who rides at the track must have a “gold standard RT-PCR COVID-19 nasopharyngeal test” performed on Aug. 24 as a condition of traveling to the track.

The riders must then be on the track grounds as of 11:00 a.m. Eastern on Aug. 31 to be tested again, the document states, at which point the rider cannot leave the state of Kentucky. Additional tests will be required on Sept. 3, according to the document, one day prior to the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks. Both the Sept. 4 and Sept. 5 cards are loaded with graded stakes races with rich purses.

The document states that all jockeys must wear protective facial coverings at all times except during the running of a race. Jockey agents will be barred from the track from Aug. 22 until Sept. 6, the day after the Derby.

The document also says that access to the jockeys’ room will be “restricted to pre-approved essential personnel,” and that those individuals will be required to undergo the same tests as riders. It says that all individuals with access to the jockeys’ room “must practice social distancing and must refrain from congregating in groups in or around the jockeys’ room.”

Jockeys who have been riding at Ellis Park in Kentucky will be allowed to access the main jockeys’ room, while all others will be stationed in an auxiliary room, the document says.

Out-of-state riders may face some complications when returning to their home circuits following the Derby. Both Saratoga and Del Mar are scheduled to hold their final race dates on Sept. 7, and both tracks have said that they will not lift their current protocols to allow any riders who travel to Kentucky back on the grounds before the closing dates.

Racing is not scheduled to begin at Santa Anita in Southern California until September 19. The New York Racing Association, which operates both Saratoga and Belmont Park, has not yet announced when racing will begin again at Belmont.

“COVID-19 travel and testing protocols for jockeys seeking to compete at the Belmont Park fall meet will be announced at the appropriate time,” said Patrick McKenna, the communications director for NYRA.