Coronavirus

Despite the coronavirus outbreak, the Godolphin Flying Start program continues remotely, with the majority of the participants logging in from their homes all over the world. "Most of the trainees have returned to their home countries in Australasia, Europe, the USA and Japan and they have shown their maturity and resilience in coping with the change in their learning environment," said Clodagh Kavanagh, executive director of GFS. "We are using technology to build our online community, stay engaged and deliver meaningful learning experiences as well as challenging assignments to the...

Pursuant to guidance issued Thursday morning by the Alameda County Public Health Officer, Golden Gate Fields in Albany, CA, will shut down temporarily for live racing effective immediately as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A release from the track reads: "At Golden Gate Fields, the health, safety and welfare of every person and every horse in our community is our top priority. At this time, there are no known cases of COVID-19 at Golden Gate Fields. This measure is being taken in response to a mandate from Alameda...

Within the backdrop of a pandemic that has reshaped the lives of people all over the world, the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, kicks off Apr. 7. It will be an auction unlike any witnessed before. A day after an announcement from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison Mar. 25, further tightening restrictions on public gatherings in response to the coronavirus outbreak, officials at Inglis announced that the Easter Sale would go forward in two rounds, the first as a digital auction only, with round two to take place in conventional...

Following Wednesday's announcement by Horse Racing Ireland that the Irish National Hunt season has been ended prematurely amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has now announced that jump racing in Britain will break until July 1. The move has been instigated following a proposal put forward by the National Trainers Federation (NTF) in order to provide clarity to trainers and owners in the jumping sector. The 2019/20 National Hunt season would normally have ended at Sandown on April 25, but that meeting has been lost during the...

The Executive Committee of the Aiken Training Track cut the track usage fee in half for horses training on the surface Monday in light of the COVID-19 crisis. The monthly track usage fee of $200 per horse has been dropped to $100, at least through the month of April 2020. "We want to help our loyal trainers at this time of economic uncertainty. We plan to watch over our monthly track usage fee with an eye to assisting our hard-working trainers as they try very hard to withstand the numerous...

   "We are the silver lining in any and every dark cloud we could ever find. There is no need to go looking for the light when you bring it with you."  -Tyler Knott Gregson    TDN Intern Katie Ritz polled a series of industry members to see if they had found anything good that has come out of the current crisis. Their responses will appear every day in the TDN. To submit your own, email suefinley@thetdn.com CRAIG BERNICK For me, it has been nice to be back in Ocala...

The 161st running of The Queen's Plate will be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Woodbine Entertainment announced Wednesday. The event was originally scheduled for Saturday, June 27. While a new date has not been confirmed, Woodbine said in a statement that it intends to host The Queen's Plate at Woodbine this year, subject to recommendations and restrictions from government and health officials related to the COVID-19 pandemic. "The Queen's Plate is the oldest continuously run race in North America and we have every intention of keeping it that way,"...

With the two-week experiment to continue racing at Fonner Park having resulted in record handle numbers for the Grand Island, Nebraska track, management has agreed to keep racing going through the month of April. The 2020 meet is scheduled to close May 2. Three weeks ago, horsemen were told that Fonner was shutting down because of the coronavirus. They went to management and reached an agreement to stay open for a trial period. A track that normally ran Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, Fonner went to a Monday-through-Wednesday schedule where it...

Nourish Lexington, an initiative to utilize hospitality workers recently unemployed due to the COVID-19 closings as well as other community food assets to provide prepared meals to those who need immediate access to food, has been created by several Central Kentucky community organizations, including Keeneland. FoodChain, with support from the E.E. Murry Family Foundation, Keeneland and VisitLEX, formed Nourish Lexington as a model collaboration to use the skills and talents of local chefs, businesses, farms, funders and nonprofit agencies in order to feed our hungry community members. Other generous donors...

Editor's note: The Thoroughbred racing industry is covered under legislation passed in Washington to bolster an economy that has been hard hit by the coronavirus. To clarify what is available to racing participants, the NTRA held a teleconference Wednesday which included tax experts who serve the racing industry. To break down what is available and who qualifies for assistance, the TDN asked Green Group Founder and Chairman Len Green to go over the CARES Act and its provisions. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act ("CARES Act") became law...

"We are the silver lining in any and every dark cloud we could ever find. There is no need to go looking for the light when you bring it with you." -Tyler Knott Gregson TDN Intern Katie Ritz polled a series of industry members to see if they had found anything good that has come out of the current crisis. Their responses will appear every day in the TDN. To submit your own, email suefinley@thetdn.com MARK TAYLOR Here is my silver lining: I feel like the coronavirus and its forced...

Trainer Linda Rice notched 40 wins for her second consecutive winter meet crown, while jockey Manny Franco posted 64 victories to win his third consecutive winter meet title at Aqueduct Racetrack. Drawing Away Stable bested all owners with 19 wins for the abbreviated winter meet that ran from Dec. 12 through Mar. 15. "It's exciting to win another title," said Rice of her title defense. "I was pleased to finally come away with a win last year and it's great to build on that success. I changed my business model...