Santa Anita officials were planning to conduct a rehearsal of a new system for saddling horses on Wednesday that will be utilized when racing has its scheduled resumption on May 15 amid the coronavirus outbreak. Santa Anita has not raced since March 22 after the track was deemed a nonessential business by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on March 27 because of the pandemic. In recent weeks, Santa Anita executives have presented county health officials with a set of protocols designed to allow racing to resume under rules that significantly reduce the number of personnel allowed in areas such as the walking ring and on the racetrack. The track has yet to receive official approval from county health officials to resume racing, track officials said in late April. Under the new protocols, Santa Anita will operate without ontrack spectators and with a limited number of track personnel needed to conduct racing. According to track officials, Wednesday’s trial run was scheduled to practice how horses will be brought from the stables to the receiving barn where they will be saddled and eventually led to the racetrack. :: To stay up to date, follow us on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter After being saddled in the receiving barn, horses will be led onto a path leading to the walking ring, where they will be transferred to a group of grooms employed by the track. Jockeys will mount horses in the walking ring and proceed to the track for the post parade and warm up, accompanied by ponies. After the race, the grooms employed by Santa Anita will attend to the horses and walk them to the testing barn, or to an appointed area near the entrance to the stable area where they will be met by grooms employed by trainers. Under this system, the track’s saddling enclosure adjacent to the jockey’s room will not be in use. There will be no winner’s circle ceremonies, according to a document published by Santa Anita in April. Aside from the new saddling procedures, the most significant change is the development of on-site quarantine facilities for jockeys, assistant starters, and the group of grooms who will handle horses for each race. Santa Anita operated without spectators for five racing days from March 14-22. Horse owners will not be allowed to attend when the track reopens, a policy that was in place from March 20-22. The coronavirus outbreak has led to the cancellation of seven weekends of racing through this Sunday. The track has revised its stakes schedule to include 29 races from May 16 through closing day on June 21.