https://www.drf.com/news/aqueduct-su...ve-coronavirus
Aqueduct suspends live racing after groom tests positive for coronavirus
David Grening
Mar 19, 2020
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Aqueduct will have to suspend live racing operations immediately and indefinitely after a groom who lives and works on the backstretch at Belmont Park tested positive for the coronavirus, the New York Racing Association announced Thursday afternoon.
The worker tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday after undergoing a test on Monday. He had developed symptoms for the virus on March 13 and both he and his roommate had been quarantined since. Neither individual traveled to Aqueduct for live racing last weekend, according to NYRA CEO and president Dave O’Rourke.
“We are working with the County and State departments of health to ensure proper quarantine and sterilization practices will continue to be followed moving forward,” O’Rourke said in a press release.
“We are focused on ensuring the health and safety of our entire backstretch community as well as the horses in their care,” O’Rourke added. “Accordingly, we are immediately suspending racing operations until further notice to devote all our attention and resources to this effort.”
NYRA did not give a timetable for when racing on this circuit could resume.
Aqueduct was scheduled to race Friday through Sunday for the final two weeks of March. There are 13 days of racing scheduled at Aqueduct in April, but those cards – including the April 4 program that is topped by the Grade 2 Wood Memorial and Grade 1 Carter – are very much in jeopardy.
Racing is scheduled to move to Belmont Park on April 24.
Currently, there are approximately 550 people who live on the backstretch and there are about 1,500 horses stabled at Belmont. Training will continue at Belmont.
“At this point in the COVID-19 crisis, we all need to be 100 percent focused on the health of our staff and the welfare of our horses,” Joe Appelbaum, the president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association said. “When the industry comes out on the other side of this – and we will – having as many healthy horses and humans as possible will be paramount.”
Appelbaum said there are “grab and go” food options being made available to those who live on the backstretch.
Appelbaum said the recreation areas on the backstretch have been closed so there is no place to assemble.
“We have a number of employees who don’t work on the backstretch,” Appelbaum said. “We’re trying to work through how to handle that.”
NYRA conducted three days of racing last week with no spectators and limited access for owners. It was planning to continue racing Friday with no spectators and no owners allowed on the grounds.
New York has had the most positive tests for the coronavirus in the country with 4,152 cases, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. There have been 372 cases in Nassau County where Belmont is located.
Aqueduct adds to a list of East Coast tracks that have shuttered racing operations, including Parx and Penn National. Monmouth Park has pushed back its scheduled opening day to May 23.
Keeneland, in Lexington, Ky., has canceled its spring meet and, of course, Churchill Downs postponed the Kentucky Derby until Sept. 5 and has not yet made a determination on when its spring meet will open.
Horsemen who were unable to race at Parx were starting to enter horses at Aqueduct. There were eight Parx-based horses entered for Saturday. Sunday’s card, which was drawn on Thursday, had 94 entrants, including 10 horses who were based at Parx.
While Laurel Park is open for racing, it announced on Thursday afternoon that it would only accept horses that are currently stabled on the grounds at Laurel or Pimlico.
NYRA is also not allowing horses to ship in to Belmont from out of town for the immediate future.