Spring meet opens with very different look, but racing will be strong

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Opening day at Churchill Downs is what would have been Preakness Day. Fans who normally would be champing at the party bit are homebound or social distancing instead. Roses are in full bloom, and yet the Kentucky Derby is still more than three months away, as if this were mid-January or something.

Need further proof the racing world has been turned upside down by the coronavirus crisis? The surreal scenario being played out the next six weeks at Churchill should do.

Indeed, a delay of three weeks from what would have been the start of the 2020 spring meet now is set for Saturday, when only “essential personnel” will be permitted in the shadows of the famed twin spires. An 11-race card featuring the return of Monomoy Girl will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern, with off-site wagering conducted primarily through advance-deposit wagering companies.

Unlike in a normal year, the high point of the meet will not be the Kentucky Derby, which has had its 146th running postponed until Sept. 5 because of the pandemic. Still, horsemen and fans are happy to be back in action.

“It’s been a rough go,” said Dale Romans, the all-time winningest trainer in track history. “We’ve all been looking forward to being back home. It’s going to be a tough, competitive meet, but that’s better than no meet.”

The first two of 26 spring cards typify what can be expected. Both the Saturday and Sunday cards consist of 11 races, almost all of them with overflow fields, and most with big-name jockeys and trainers participating. Including also-eligibles and exclusions, a whopping 209 entries were accepted for Saturday, followed by another 221 for Sunday.

“Entries are absolutely crazy,” said trainer Al Stall Jr., who entered four horses for the first two days, with two getting buried deep on also-eligible lists and the other two excluded.

There are no stakes until next Saturday, May 23, but rich allowances and maiden-specials will fill that void nicely. Monomoy Girl is in one of four allowances on the Saturday opener, with purses ranging from $81,000 to $85,000. As usual, all non-claiming/starter races include sizable bonuses for horses registered to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.

:: KENTUCKY DERBY 2020: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more

Without the Derby and Oaks and all the accompanying stakes that week – they’re all rescheduled for early September – the biggest race of the meet becomes the Grade 2 Stephen Foster, which will be run closing day, June 27.

The Grade 3, $150,000 Matt Winn is among five stakes next Saturday. The Winn represents a resumption of the Kentucky Derby chase, with 85 qualifying points (50-20-10-5) on offer. The other four – the Blame, Shawnee, War Chant, and Tepin – all are new $100,000 races created amid the coronavirus reshuffle.

Only trainers and minimal support staff are being allowed at the races, with strict health requirements being enforced. Even horse owners are barred. Two of three in-house television hosts will rotate onsite, those being Joe Kristufek, Ed DeRosa, and Scott Shapiro. TVG is expected to televise all the live action, with Caton Bredar among its analysts providing insight from the safety of home.

First post every day is 1 p.m. Eastern, with no Saturday night or Thursday twilight cards because of the no-spectator policy. Racing is being conducted on a four-day schedule (Thursday through Sunday), plus Memorial Day (May 25).

Possible thundershowers and a high temperature of 84 are in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday.

Brown stable settles in

Twenty-four horses trained by Chad Brown were settling into Barn 25 on the backstretch Thursday as the four-time reigning champion trainer makes plans for a full Churchill meet for the first time.

Whit Beckman is the onsite assistant for Brown, who has made the spring and fall meets up the road at Keeneland key stops on his annual circuit but has never had a string at Churchill other than for major races such as the Derby, Oaks, or Breeders’ Cup.

“These horses are coming up from Florida,” where they have been in steady training at Palm Meadows or Payson Park, said Beckman, a Louisville native.

While most of Brown’s higher-profile horses are headed soon from Florida to New York, Dunbar Road is foremost among the Churchill string. Winner of the Mother Goose and Alabama last year at 3, the Quality Road filly is being pointed to the 1 1/16-mile Shawnee next Saturday in what will be her first start since she finished fifth last fall in the BC Distaff at Santa Anita.

Meanwhile, Todd Pletcher will have a local string of about 15 horses, and Bob Baffert told track officials he intends to send the occasional starter into the care of D. Wayne Lukas after turning down stalls in Barn 33.

Four Wheel Drive makes return

The Sunday card features the 3-year-old debut of Four Wheel Drive, the American Pharoah colt who ended a perfect 2019 by winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. He was assigned post 1 as part of an oversubscribed field in race 10, an $84,000 turf-sprint allowance with open conditions.

Irad Ortiz Jr. is named to ride Four Wheel Drive, but trainer Wesley Ward said a replacement will be needed. Ortiz is riding Saturday at Gulfstream Park, and coronavirus-related protocols preclude him from being allowed to ride here the following day.