The 2020 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore has been rescheduled to Oct. 3 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Larry Hogan, the governor of Maryland, who made the announcement during a Preakness-themed broadcast on Saturday afternoon, the day the race would have been held this year.
The announcement by Hogan was preceded by a short appearance by Belinda Stronach, the president of The Stronach Group, which owns Pimlico.
As racing begins to open up on major circuits in Kentucky and California, New York racing is still stuck in limbo, two months and counting without live racing and with no clear-cut answer on when operations can resume.
The New York Racing Association is awaiting an answer from state officials on a plan it submitted last month to run racing at Belmont Park without spectators. Under the original plan, the hope was to begin racing next Friday. Now, it would appear a best-case scenario would be the last weekend of May or perhaps early June.
In reality, nobody knows.
Santa Anita has altered the procedure and personnel involved in guiding horses from the saddling area to the track, beginning with the resumption of racing Friday.
The procedure is similar to previous plans significantly limiting the number of people needed to attend to horses prior to races. The conditions were put in place because of the coronavirus outbreak.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., is in discussions with Ellis Park in Henderson over an agreement that would allow Keeneland to run a number of live racing dates in July, according to Robert Elliston, the vice president of racing and sales at the track.
Elliston would not provide specific dates targeted by Keeneland, but he said that the dates would be run in July. Ellis Park has been awarded all of the live racing dates for that month, but Keeneland is hopeful that Ellis would agree to give up some dates in order to allow Keeneland to run.
Prairie Meadows will not open for live racing in the foreseeable future, despite state government approval to do so, the track said in a statement released late Thursday.
The decision to remain closed is a disappointment for some horsemen based in the Midwest who had been hopeful that the track would open its backstretch at a time when tracks in several surrounding states have begun making plans to restart racing.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Following Thursday’s announcement regarding horse racing without fans being part of the phase one reopening of Ontario’s economy, Woodbine Entertainment CEO Jim Lawson confirmed an early June start for both Thoroughbred racing at Woodbine and Standardbred racing at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
