Fair Grounds racing officials sent to horsemen early Sunday afternoon a message outlining a training schedule extending through April 11, alleviating concerns that arose from a letter sent Saturday night from Fair Grounds president Doug Shipley to the Louisiana Racing Commission. That letter, according to multiple sources who’d seen it, suggested Fair Grounds would have to halt training in response to a Stay Home Mandate issued by New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell on March 20 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Two of the leading contenders for Saturday’s Grade 1 Florida Derby, Tiz the Law and Independence Hall, turned in their final preps for the meet’s marquee event at virtually the same time albeit 40 miles apart, shortly after 7:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Sam Houston Race Park in Houston announced Sunday it has canceled its final four dates of the Thoroughbred meet as well as its full meet for Quarter Horses that was to open April 10.

The meet for Thoroughbreds was to have originally closed March 28. The cancellations were made due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re extremely disappointed to not be able to complete what we started, which was a tremendous racing season for the Thoroughbreds,” Frank Hopf, senior director of racing operations for Sam Houston, said Sunday.

HALLANDALE BBEACH, Fla. – Under normal circumstances, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. would be elated over Ny Traffic’s second-place finish in Saturday’s Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. But these aren’t normal times in the world, and Joseph readily admitted he had mixed emotions when talking about the performance shortly after training hours at Gulfstream Park on Sunday morning.

Sam Houston Race Park was forced to cancel its Texas Champions program after Saturday night’s second race due to a track lighting issue caused by a blown transformer, according to Frank Hopf, senior director of racing operations for Sam Houston.

“The transformer blew and we were unable to get all the track lights on to run safely,” said Hopf.

Sam Houston experienced wet weather Saturday, with the track rated sloppy and the races scheduled for turf moved to the main track.

Ricardo Santana Jr. who is the leading rider at Oaklawn Park, will be taken off the horses he is named to ride Sunday at the Hot Springs, Ark., track as he begins a 12-day quarantine period in precautions Oaklawn is taking after Santana spent Saturday riding at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

Joining a host of other American racetracks, Fair Grounds in New Orleans announced that after Saturday's card it would curtail its racing season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, canceling the last six racing days of the 2019-2020 meet.

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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Gulfstream Park announced Saturday it will cut the purses for five stakes races on next Saturday’s card, including the Grade 1 Florida Derby, which will be reduced from $1 million to $750,000. Other cuts will be made for the Grade 2 Pan American and Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks, both reduced from $250,000 to $200,000, as well as the Sanibel Island and Cutler Bay stakes, both down from $125,000 to $100,000.

The Florida Cup, which was to be run March 29 at Tampa Bay Downs, has been canceled, according to Allison De Luca, longtime Tampa racing secretary.

Even though Tampa has continued to race uninterrupted since the onset of the coronavirus crisis, and there were no plans to stop as of late Friday, the Florida Cup still has been removed from the stakes schedule, owing primarily to a downturn in revenue stemming from significantly diminished wagering handle on recent programs.

Indiana Grand announced Friday that it would indefinitely postpone the start of its 2020 race meet, which was scheduled to begin April 14, due to the national health emergency.

The Shelbyville, Ind., track and casino, owned by Caesar’s Entertainment, also said it was emptying the stables, which, according to multiple sources, housed between 100 and 200 horses as of this week. Indiana Grand general manager Eric Halstrom didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry regarding the number of horses ontrack.