LEXINGTON, Ky. – Total handle on historical horse racing machines operated by a number of Kentucky racetracks plummeted 43 percent in March due to the closures of their casinos in mid-March, according to figures from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

Total wagering through nearly 3,000 machines at locations at Kentucky Downs, The Red Mile, Ellis Park, and the Trackside training center in Louisville was $132.4 million this March, compared to $234.0 million in March of last year. All of the locations closed Sunday, March 15, due to efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

In his daily briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic on Friday evening, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear did not float any specific plan for the return of live racing in the state, even without spectators.

Keeneland had been scheduled to open its spring meeting on April 2 and Churchill Downs is slated to open its spring-summer meeting on April 25. Keeneland canceled its meeting, and Churchill has yet to make a formal announcement on the status of its meet, but in mid-March announced that the Kentucky Derby was postponed from the first Saturday in May to Sept. 5.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic was clearly spelled out in Thoroughbred racing’s economic indicators for the first quarter of 2020, released on Friday by Equibase, as a reduction in race days and a corresponding drop in wagering led to dramatic declines in March.

Top trainers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis entered not guilty pleas to charges related to administering illegal substances to racehorses during an arraignment conducted telephonically Thursday afternoon by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Golden Gate Fields has been ordered closed by Alameda County officials because of the coronavirus pandemic, track executives said on Thursday.

The track made the announcement in a text message sent to horsemen late Thursday morning, about an hour before the first race was scheduled to begin.

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.