Royal Ascot Continues, With Face Masks Instead of Top Hats

The customarily huge fields, as many as 30 horses, were cut to a maximum of 24 to abet social distancing, and the jockeys and officials all wore masks.

At least one trainer, Mark Johnston, who recovered from Covid-19 in April, said the safety measures were more than enough. “If anything, the precautions are over the top,” he told the BBC. “We’re out in a big open space, built for tens of thousands of people, with only a couple of hundred people there. So the precautions are more than adequate. I think the risk of viral transmission is very, very low indeed.”

The racing was top class, including two Group 1 races on Tuesday and more to come the rest of the week. The first race, the Buckingham Palace Handicap, was won by Motakhayyel under jockey Jim Crowley.

For One Minor League, Play Ball

While Major League Baseball and the players’ union continued to squabble about restarting their season, at least one league, the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, will begin its season, on July 3.

The minor league, which is based in the Midwest and independent of Major League Baseball, has been in existence since 2005. Six of its 12 teams will participate in the 2020 season, based in three hub cities: Fargo, N.D.; Milwaukee; and Sioux Falls, S.D.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/sports/royal-ascot-tokyo-olympics.html