The Kentucky Derby will be run without fans this year for the first time in its history.

On Friday, Churchill Downs announced that it had canceled its plans to allow a limited number of ticketholders into the track on Derby Day, taking place this year on Sept. 5 because of the disruption caused by the coronavirus. The cancellation comes at a time when Kentucky has failed to show any meaningful progress in slowing the spread of the coronavirus, and at a time of general unrest in Churchill’s city, Louisville.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Mike Trombetta will be taking a few shots in stakes next weekend at Saratoga.

Trombetta said he plans to run Win Win Win in the Grade 1 Forego, Premier Star in the Grade 2 Amsterdam – both on Saturday – and the Puerto Rican import Lucky Stride in the Grade 3, $125,000 Shuvee on the Sunday.

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Tom’s d’Etat, who finished third after stumbling at the start of the Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 1 at Saratoga, will train up to the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 7 at Keeneland, trainer Al Stall said Friday.

Stall said the combination of how well Tom’s d’Etat runs fresh and the absence of a prep in a suitable time frame prompted him to make the decision to wait for the Classic. Stall said he was hoping the Grade 2 Fayette Stakes, scheduled for Oct. 10 at Keeneland, would have been a week earlier.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – King Jack, unraced since he won the Grade 2 Gallant Bob Stakes at Parx Racing last September, is now with trainer Todd Pletcher.

On Friday at Saratoga, King Jack had his first workout this year, going three furlongs in 37.66 seconds over the main track.

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A final decision on his participation in the Kentucky Derby was to be made over the weekend, but Dr Post signaled his preparedness for the race with a solid five-furlong workout in 1:00.75 on Friday morning over Saratoga’s main track.

Jolie Olimpica, a two-time stakes winner this year, has recovered from a recent bout with colic and will be pointed for the Grade 3 Spendthrift Farms Ladies Sprint at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 12, trainer Richard Mandella said on Friday.

Mandella said the colic was not a serious issue earlier this week, but that the timing prevented a start in Sunday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Mile. Jolie Olimpica missed a start in the Yellow Ribbon Stakes earlier this month because of a grabbed quarter.

“It’s one stumbling block after another,” Mandella said.

The Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on Sunday was not trainer Richard Mandella’s first objective with the Brazilian Group 1 winner Royal Ship.

Earlier this month, Mandella entered Royal Ship in an optional claimer, but when the race failed to draw sufficient entries the $150,000 Del Mar Mile became a viable option.

In the last two weeks, jockey Drayden Van Dyke has enjoyed a variety of outdoor sports around Del Mar – golf, running on the beach, and swimming and boogie boarding in the Pacific. Just about everything but race riding.

Van Dyke rode on Aug. 9 and then was sidelined until Friday. After withdrawing an appeal of a five-day suspension for a riding infraction at Santa Anita in May, Van Dyke began serving the days on Aug. 14. The problem this year is that five days of suspension covers nearly two weeks of races with Del Mar’s Friday through Sunday schedule.

At least somebody is enjoying a fantastic 2020.

“I’m living the dream,” Ferrin Peterson said this week by phone from New Jersey, where the 28-year-old jockey has booted home 20 winners at Monmouth Park in Oceanport. “I’m getting to do everything I ever wanted to do.”

A four-win day on the Aug. 2 card at Monmouth has helped to lift Peterson, a seven-pound apprentice, into a tie for second with Antonio Gallardo in the local jockey standings. Both started a new race week Friday with 20 winners, trailing only Paco Lopez (39).

The New Jersey Racing Commission has scheduled a special meeting for Monday in order to consider a request by Monmouth Park to pay out purses without first receiving the results of post-race drug tests, according to Monmouth’s top official.