The three tracks that host the Triple Crown have agreed to postpone the late nomination period for those races, which would have closed Monday, owing to the postponement of the Kentucky Derby because of the coronavirus pandemic and its potential impact on the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, according to a release put out Sunday by Churchill Downs, which hosts the Derby.

The disqualification of a horse trained by Graham Motion in the 2015 Bewitch Stakes at Keeneland Racecourse became official this week when the state’s Supreme Court declined to take up an appeal of an aspect of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission’s handling of the case.

Jockey Javier Castellano, who last rode March 15 at Gulfstream Park in Florida and had multiple rides lined up at the track beginning Thursday through the Florida Derby, has tested positive for coronavirus, according to his agent, John Panagot, and his father-in-law, Terry Meyocks.

Castellano was confirmed positive for the virus Thursday morning, Panagot said, but he is so far “asymptomatic and feels fine and healthy.” He is currently in isolation at his mother’s house in Florida and is attempting to get guidance on what he needs to do to protect himself and his family. 

Two days of hearings scheduled this week by the New York State Gaming Commission to discuss the possibility of revoking or suspending the license of trainer Linda Rice have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The hearings, scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday, have tentatively been rescheduled for April 14, according to a gaming commission spokesman. The hearings were initially scheduled for December then rescheduled for February and again for this week.

An arraignment scheduled for Monday afternoon for many of the defendants in indictments unsealed two weeks ago alleging a wide-ranging conspiracy to dope racehorses has been canceled due to coronavirus and has not been rescheduled, according to documents in the case.

Robert Manfuso, a mainstay of the Maryland racing and breeding industry who at one time held an ownership stake in the state’s tracks, died Thursday of natural causes. He was 82.

The Louisiana State Racing Commission on Friday ordered Evangeline Downs in Opelousas and all other racetracks in the state to continue to allow horses to be stabled on their backstretches for at least the next 30 days.

The commission took the action, in the form of an order applying to all tracks, after Evangeline Downs told horsemen earlier in the week that they had to vacate the backstretch by March 18. In reaction to the order, horsemen in the state beseeched the racing commission to prevent the order from taking effect.

Laurel Park in Maryland on Thursday closed its backstretch to all shippers other than horses stabled at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore and will scratch all horses that are stabled at other tracks for the race cards scheduled for Friday and Saturday, the state’s horsemen group said in an alert to its members.

The ban on ship-ins became effective immediately, the alert said. Although Laurel began banning spectators last week due to the impact of the coronavirus impact, the track is continuing to run.

A bill that will allow Maryland to use casino subsidies flowing to racing in order to fund renovations at Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course in Maryland has been sent to the state’s governor after it passed a final procedural hurdle in the state’s House of Representatives on Wednesday, according to racing officials.

Cathy Dwyer dies this past weekend in New Port Richey, Fla., after a prolonged and courageous battle with cancer.  Dwyer, 65, was the longtime simulcast director at Tampa Bay Downs and, most recently, the director of operations at Premier Turf Club.

Born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1954, Dwyer moved with her family to Chicago as a child.  She later worked on the Chicago stock exchange.