At Belmont’s Backstretch, Caring for Horses During the Shutdown

Tom Morley had two thoroughbreds entered at Belmont Park on Wednesday when horse racing returned to New York for the first time in nearly three months. No winners, but it didn’t matter — this was hardly business as usual.

No spectators were allowed in the Long Island racetrack. Temperature checks, masks and hand sanitizers have joined rakes, shovels, wraps and ice buckets as vital tools of the trade of caring for and racing horses.

Still, Morley, a trainer, and his team were gratified to be back at work after a harrowing 10 weeks. Six of his employees tested positive for the coronavirus. Four of them were hospitalized. One, Martin Zapata, 63, the barn’s foreman, died.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/sports/horse-racing/belmont-park-backstretch.html