COVID-19

The Backstretch Employee Service Team of New York, which operates the B.E.S.T. Health Center located on the Belmont Park backstretch, is seeking additional donations in support of its efforts to assist the local racing community during the coronavirus pandemic. Donations can be made here. B.E.S.T. is tasked with providing backstretch workers free health care, life insurance, drug and mental health counselling, as well as food and clothing. It is funded by the New York Racing Association, Inc. and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, along with public donations and grants...

To Our Customers: It goes without saying that we are in historic times. COVID-19 has disrupted our industry and changed the manner in which we conduct our businesses and our everyday lives. While we are all doing our part to protect against the spread of the virus, we must also provide stability and normalcy to our industry. The Keeneland September Yearling Sale serves as a barometer for the state of our industry and establishes certainty for our global marketplace. This is a responsibility which we do not take lightly. With...

Much has been said and written about racing's opportunity during the coronavirus pandemic to capture wagering dollars typically directed towards sports betting or spent in casinos, and I'm happy to report that two of my closest friends have done their part in contributing to handle over the past month or so. Neither are complete rookies, but they don't regularly bet races. We actually started betting horses at the same time--early in our college careers, but they never got hooked on the sport like I did. They've been to Saratoga, will...

Andrew Thornton reports himself to be nearing full health after recovering from coronavirus. The Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning rider caught the virus in March, describing how he was "knocked sideways" by the illness. He said, "The last week I have been just about back to 100%. "Where it came from I don't know, but luckily Yvonne [wife] and Harry [son] have both managed to avoid catching it. I just tried to separate myself--I used a different bedroom and bathroom, I just stayed away from them. "I struggled to get up before...

Horseplayers were up in arms last week over a controversial disqualification at previously under-the-radar Fonner Park during a $4.1-million pandemic-inflated Pick Five sequence. Off-the-beaten-path Will Rogers Downs is flirting with $10 million in weekly handle fueled largely by bettors who, prior to the coronavirus outbreak, would have had difficulty pinpointing that track on a map. Amid the dystopia triggered by racetrack closures nationwide, such rapt attention and robust wagering on the five Thoroughbred tracks still running (Oaklawn Park, Gulfstream Park, and Tampa Bay Downs are the others) could be viewed...

The general lack of racing around America in light of local restrictions due to the impact of COVID-19 has focused the attention of customers on a select number of races at any one time. A natural byproduct has been collective social media outrage at a pair of stewards' decisions which demoted winners, once Sunday at Oaklawn Park and another on Tuesday at Fonner Park. This is not a story about the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation's suggestion that North America should shift its rules philosophy to the international standard--known as Category 1....

The British Horseracing Authority will next week review the resumption of racing recommendations established by the COVID-19 Racing Industry Group's Resumption of Racing Group. The Resumption of Racing Group was created to forge a government-approved plan which would allow the industry to resume racing on daily basis in controlled phases when government permits. "Everyone's first duty at present is to the health and safety of the public, as the government has made clear," said the Chief Operating Officer of the BHA, Richard Wayman. "That will clearly be the most important...

The New York Race Track Chaplaincy of America has launched a matching gift drive for its food pantry that will benefit backstretch workers at Belmont Park as they deal with the many challenges posed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Donations to the food pantry made between now and June 6 will be matched up to $25,000 by a member of the New York Racing Association (NYRA) Board of Directors. That gives the Chaplaincy the potential to raise up to $50,000 for its pantry, one of the few in the area...

The California Retirement Management Account, one of the sectors of horse management in the Golden State being deeply impacted by the current shutdown, will temporarily suspend the intake of new horses into the program, the non-profit announced Thursday. In a letter to California owners and trainers, CARMA said, "Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CARMA Placement Program will be temporarily suspended. The program's main source of funding is through purse contributions and matching funds during live racing. During this time, we will not be accepting new horses...

Aside from the threats to life and health, the global coronavirus pandemic has created massive economic and socio-political turmoil and fear over a short time span. In times like this--there haven't been many quite like this in recent years, except for the economic meltdown of 2008 and the crash of 1987 (Black Monday)--it's difficult to see the forest for the trees, but the worry some people have that things have changed for the worse is clear and real. Dr. Anthony Fauci said so himself. The Director of the National Institute...

While the coronavirus pandemic's most notable interruption to the world of horse racing has been the lack of, well, horses racing, many of the gears normally turning behind the scenes of the sport have been slowed or halted altogether as well. That includes the sales circuit, which has gone dark for several months as stay-at-home orders and bans on mass gatherings have, in some cases belatedly, trickled in to nearly all of the 50 states. As timing would have it, that shutdown basically covers all of 2-year-old sale season aside...

Horse Racing Ireland's (HRI) Industry Education and Training Department have co-ordinated a variety of platforms and services to support the racing industry while racing is suspended due to COVID-19. Among services funded by HRI: Industry Assistance Programme (IAP), offering free access to trained counsellors, psychotherapists and information specialists who provide emotional support.  www.workinracing.ie/industry-welfare/industry-assistance-programme/ Providing horsemen with a COVID-19 business continuity planning best practices information. Sports psychology and other support for jockeys/apprentices, through the 'The Jockey Pathway' workinracing.ie/jockey-pathway/ HRI's Industry Education and Training Department COVID-19 FAQ for employers, available at https://www.workinracing.ie/....