HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Bonny South is chillin’ up north.
Trainer Brad Cox said that the Fair Grounds Oaks winner is settled in at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. She’s in a holding pattern of sorts as her connections plot the best course to get her to the Kentucky Oaks, which due to the coronavirus has been postponed to Sept. 4.
Bonny South won an Oaklawn optional-claiming race in February before going on to capture the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks on March 21.
Trainer John Kimmel has resisted the urge to ship Mr. Buff to Oaklawn Park for the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap on May 2, and due to a coronavirus situation at his Belmont Park barn he has shipped the 6-year-old New York-bred gelding to the farm for a little while.
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The Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship Series is the latest horseracing casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 35-race series, which was brought back in 2018 after a long absence, was scheduled to begin April 18, with races at Laurel Park and Charles Town. MATCH Series races were also on the stakes schedules of Colonial Downs, Delaware Park, Monmouth Park, Parx Racing, Penn National, and Pimlico Race Course. The Series would have concluded on Oct. 10.
Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, who tested positive for coronavirus on March 24 and who hasn’t ridden since March 15, returned to New York on Tuesday night. He is aiming to return to race-riding May 1 at Oaklawn Park.
Castellano and several other jockeys who had ridden out of town, took tests for coronavirus before they were permitted to ride the March 28 Florida Derby Day card. Though he did not exhibit any symptoms, Castellano’s test came back positive.
The uncertainty in coming months regarding racing in general, and preps to the Kentucky Derby specifically, has caused a number of trainers to tweak their approaches with their top 3-year-olds in coming weeks. Other factors are at play in their decisions, including rules regarding shipping imposed by the owners of Gulfstream Park, and where horses stand on the current points list.
As Santa Anita approaches its third weekend without racing because of the coronavirus outbreak, costs continue to mount for owners and trainers who are keeping more than 1,600 horses active in the track’s stable area.
As of Wednesday, there was no word on when racing would resume.
Santa Anita was ordered shut by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on March 27 with less than an hour to post time. The venue was deemed a nonessential business during the outbreak.
Trainer John Terranova is considering shipping Killybegs Captain to Oaklawn Park for the Grade 3, $350,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap on April 18.
Killybegs Captain, who won the Pelican Stakes on Feb. 15 at Tampa Bay Downs, was among the U.S.-based horses who shipped to Dubai but did not get to run on the March 28 World Cup Card at Meydan. Killybegs Captain was pointing to the $2.5 million Golden Shaheen.
The opening of the stable area and Oklahoma training track in Saratoga, scheduled for April 15, will be delayed indefinitely the New York Racing Association announced Wednesday, owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
Under the 2008 franchise agreement with the state, NYRA is required to “maintain and operate” the Oklahoma training track from April 15-Nov. 1 each year, subject to weather conditions. NYRA received permission from the New York State Gaming Commission to delay the opening of the Oklahoma track.
The New York racing community on Wednesday was mourning the passing of Martin Zapata who died Tuesday due to the coronavirus, racing officials said. Zapata, a hotwalker who worked for trainer Tom Morley, was 63.
Zapata, who lived and worked at Belmont Park, tested positive for coronavirus on March 24. Two day later, he was admitted to the hospital, where he died.
