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.

Trainer Bill Mott is considering sending at least two horses to Oaklawn Park for stakes on April 18.

Golden Award, most recently second in the Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream Park, is being pointed to the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap, while Hidden Scroll, a 12 1/2-length winner of a first-level allowance on March 1, could join her for the Grade 3, $350,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap the same day.

Trainer John Servis was planning to send Mischevious Alex and Diamond King to Oaklawn Park this weekend for stakes races, but canceled those plans due to the restrictive quarantine rules put in place by The Stronach Group.

Horses that race at Oaklawn would have to serve a 14-day quarantine period at a farm in Florida before being able to return to Gulfstream Park or the Palm Meadows training center, both Stronach Group properties. Further, Servis said, any help he would send to Oaklawn would not be permitted to return Gulfstream or Palm Meadows at all.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With the quality of the local horse population far superior to what it would normally be at this time of the season due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Gulfstream Park racing office will adjust accordingly starting with the second condition book that begins April 23.

The 2020 spring stakes schedule does not begin until May 2 with a pair of $75,000 stakes on the grass for 3-year-olds and 3-year-old fillies, the English Channel and Honey Ryder, and the $100,000 Big Drama for Florida-breds going seven furlongs.