Kentucky Derby to Run Without Fans at Churchill Downs

Like all major sports leagues, thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown has been upended by the spread of the virus. In June, the series kicked off for the first time in history with the Belmont Stakes, which is traditionally the last leg of the Triple Crown.

It, too, was held without spectators, and a New York-bred colt named Tiz the Law won in a transcendent performance. The colt followed that victory with another dominating performance in the Travers Stakes earlier this month at a fanless Saratoga Race Course and is the likely favorite to win the Derby next month.

Besides the absence of fans, this year’s edition of the race will be missing some of the top jockeys in the nation. Jose Ortiz, his brother Irad Ortiz Jr. and Joel Rosario will remain in New York and finish the Saratoga meet.

Jockeys competing during Derby week are required to be in Kentucky by Aug. 31 for testing and safety protocols. New York racing officials has said that jockeys, trainers and backstretch employees traveling from outside the state would not be permitted to re-enter track grounds to participate in the current summer meet.

In March, Churchill Downs officials made the move to September after deciding that the Derby wouldn’t be the Derby without its 150,000-plus fans, sporting big hats and pocket squares and clutching mint juleps. At the time, Bill Carstanjen, Churchill Downs’s chief executive, said he was “fairly optimistic” that the race could be run in front of a scaled-down live audience, noting that the racetrack is 1 million square feet and offers a variety of seating options, from premium suites to picnic-like grounds in the infield.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/21/sports/horse-racing/kentucky-derby-no-fans.html