Coronavirus

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, Goffs and Tattersalls have revised the store sales dates to allow sufficient time for vendors to quarantine between the Goffs UK Summer Sale and the Irish Store sales at Goffs and Tattersalls Ireland in compliance with Irish Government quarantine requirements. A two week gap between sales in the UK and Ireland has been agreed to give adequate time for Irish vendors to return from England and quarantine before they head to Kildare for the Goffs Land Rover Sale and then to the Tattersalls Ireland Derby...

The New York Racing Association Inc., (NYRA) has announced updated health and safety protocols to address the rise in confirmed COVID-19 cases among jockeys around the country. Until further notice, Saratoga Race Course will be closed to out-of-town jockeys. In addition, any member of the regular NYRA jockey colony who travels to ride at any other racetrack will not be permitted to return to Saratoga Race Course. "These measures prioritize the health and safety of the jockeys competing in New York, and are designed to combat the spread of COVID-19,"...

Jockey Florent Geroux has joined a growing list of prominent jockeys who have tested positive for the coronavirus. Geroux was scheduled to ride Wednesday at Canterbury Park and had to take a test before he would be allowed to ride there. He took the test Monday and came up positive. "I don't really have any symptoms," Georux said. "I was a little bit tired Monday, but I had a long week last week. I didn't have any shortness of breath or anything like that." In less than a week, jockeys...

The Laytown Races Committee has cancelled the Sept. 1 Laytown race meeting at Laytown strand, Horse Racing Ireland announced on Tuesday. The decision was made due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and for public health and safety reasons. All customers that have already purchased tickets and other hospitality options will receive a full refund. "Laytown Races is in a unique position as we race under temporary facilities and our racetrack on the beach is a fantastic amenity, open to the public," said Laytown Races Chairman Joe Collins. "As the health...

Nick Caras, Programs Director of the NY Race Track Chaplaincy, Kim Weir, a Saratoga Volunteer Coordinator, and Mark Kehrer, Pastor of Revelation Church, have organized a small army of volunteers and sponsors from the Saratoga Springs community in recent weeks to improve housing conditions for backstretch families who have traveled to Saratoga for the duration of the meet. For years, many of the stable workers have stayed at rudimentary cabins at the Pine Grove Family Camp on Pine Road in Saratoga Springs. Caras always wanted them to have something better....

Trainers Aidan and Donnacha O'Brien have been fined €2,500 each and prohibited from attending race meetings in Ireland for two weeks for failing to enter The Curragh through the health screening area at a meeting last month. The pair were found to have breached coronavirus health screening protocols at the County Kildare course on June 12, which was G1 Irish 2000 Guineas day during the week racing resumed in Ireland. The matter was heard by the referrals panel of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board on Monday. A tweet from the...

Have saddle, will travel--a well-worn aphorism. But is it a wise one to emulate in this time of the coronavirus? Within the past week, Flavien Prat, Victor Espinoza, Eduard Rojas Fernandez, Luis Saez and Martin Garcia have all tested positive for the virus--a chain of events that can be traced back to Los Alamitos over the July 4 weekend, said Derek Lawson, Prat's agent. "There's no question that that's where it happened," he said, of Prat's infection occurring at the Southern California facility. But against a broader surge in coronavirus...

According to his agent, Derek Lawson, top California rider Flavien Prat has tested positive for the coronavirus. Because he left California to ride Saturday at Keeneland, Prat was required to take a test Sunday before being allowed to ride at Del Mar. The test results were positive and Prat had to take off all his mounts. "These athletes, they know their bodies," Lawson said. "When I picked him up at the airport, he said, 'I think I have it.'" Lawson said that Prat is feeling fine and will return to...

With the latest developments nationwide, the following Out of State restrictions will be in place at Prairie Meadows effective Friday, July 10, 2020 at 6:00pm until further notice: Entry of any horse(s) currently in Texas or Florida will be accepted if the Out of State Trainer agrees to transfer such horse to a Trainer currently stabled at Prairie Meadows Shipping arrangements of such horse(s) should be made with the understanding that no essential barn area workers from Texas or Florida will be allowed on the grounds at Prairie Meadows.

Spectators will be allowed to return to French racecourses in a limited fashion beginning on July 11, France Galop, LeTROT and the Federation Nationale des Courses Hippiques announced on Saturday. However, this decree applies only to racecourses that are not located in zones that are in a state of emergency due to COVID-19, and no more than 5,000 spectators, racing professionals and staff needed to run a race meeting combined may attend. Social distancing rules have to be observed, as well as mandatory face masks must be brought and worn...

Triple Crown-winning jockey Victor Espinoza has tested positive for coronavirus and will be out of action for an undetermined period of time, Daily Racing Form reported late Friday. He is the third rider who competed at Los Alamitos Saturday, July 4, who has tested positive. Jockey Martin Garcia was en route to ride the Indiana Derby program at Indiana Grand Wednesday when he was informed of his positive, while Luis Saez, who was aboard Uncle Chuck in the GIII Los Alamitos Derby, rode two races at Keeneland Friday before his...

The Black Album (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), winner of Wednesday's Jonathan B. Schuster Memorial S. at Indiana Grand, is one of the five latest supplements added to Monday's Fasig-Tipton July Horses of Racing Age Sale. The French Group 2 winner earned a 94 Beyer Speed Figure for his recent victory. He will be consigned to next week's sale as hip 177 by Bluewater Sales, agent. The latest batch of supplements are catalogued as hips 177-181. Click to view the enhanced online catalogue for the sale, featuring pedigrees, race videos, statistical...