As the New York Racing Association awaits word from regulators about when it will be able to resume racing, trainer Todd Pletcher said Thursday he is planning to ship horses back to Belmont Park on Monday. Pletcher moved his horses out of New York in late March, shortly after racing on this circuit was suspended due to a case of coronavirus on the Belmont Park backstretch.

Courtlandt Farm, the racing and breeding operation of Don and Donna Adam, has ended its working relationship with trainer Mark Hennig and will be using new trainers moving forward, racing manager Ernie Retamoza said Wednesday.

The California Horse Racing Board meeting on May 21 has been canceled, the board announced in a one-paragraph statement Thursday.

A spokesman for the racing board said cost-saving at a time of significantly decreased revenue for California racing was a contributing reason for the cancellation. The board’s next meeting is scheduled for June 11 and will be held via teleconference. Recent racing board meetings have been conducted in such a manner because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Midway through Thursday morning on a warm day in Southern California Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith was midway through a six-mile run in the hills above Santa Anita Racetrack.

“These hills are brutal,” Smith said.

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Golden Gate Fields received provisional approval from the Alameda (Calif.) County public health officer on Wednesday to resume racing May 14, seven weeks after the track was deemed a nonessential business due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The track made the announcement in a press release issued midday Wednesday.

Golden Gate will operate largely on a four-day per week basis from Thursday through Sunday through June 14, the conclusion of a winter-spring meeting that began in December.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Woodbine Entertainment CEO Jim Lawson said in a Wednesday release that he anticipates the resumption of live racing at Woodbine in June.

The Woodbine meet was postponed from April 18 due to the state of emergency declared by the province of Ontario in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Wednesday, the state of emergency was extended to May 19 to cover the Victoria Day holiday weekend.

Multiple graded stakes winner Diamond Oops returned to the work tab Wednesday morning at Palm Meadows, going a half-mile in 51.80 seconds over the main track.

It was his first breeze since Feb. 16, when he breezed seven furlongs on turf.

While trainer Patrick Biancone said he didn’t see anything on the Churchill Downs stakes schedule that enticed him, he is getting the 5-year-old gelding ready for a summer and fall campaign.

One of the horses likely to mentioned on Mark Casse’s Hall of Fame plaque is War of Will, who gave Casse his first U.S. classic victory in last year’s Preakness Stakes.

In 2020, Casse – announced Wednesday as the newest trainer elected to the Hall of Fame – hopes to make War of Will a Grade 1 winner on turf, a journey that begins Saturday in the $75,000 Sunshine Forever Stakes, scheduled for 1 1/16 miles over Gulfstream Park’s turf course.

The purse for the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby at 1 1/8 miles on July 4 has been raised by $50,000, to $150,000, at the discretion of management.

Track vice president Jack Liebau said on Wednesday that Los Alamitos has been told the race will have a role in the points system of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Sept. 5. The Kentucky Derby was postponed from May 2 because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Churchill Downs officials have not announced the new points structure for the Kentucky Derby.

Santa Anita officials were planning to conduct a rehearsal of a new system for saddling horses on Wednesday that will be utilized when racing has its scheduled resumption on May 15 amid the coronavirus outbreak.