Racing Restrictions / Coronavirus

[mick]

I watched SkyNews International this afternoon and they covered the UK Prime Minister's news conference about the country's financial stimulus plan. So far, there have been 71 deaths from COVID-19 in the UK. The Health Minister was with the Prime Minister and said that their best case "target" was 20,000 deaths. The PM, Boris Johnson, didn't bat an eye either.

With city and provincial lockdowns, business and school closures and the like, governments are merely buying time to develop a vaccine. That's the only real solution and best estimates are that may be a year away. When the lockdowns are eased and businesses and schools reopened before a vaccine is developed, tested, manufactured and distributed, those who weren't exposed to the virus already will be exposed and without that vaccine, they will be vulnerable. Because you can't shut down a country for a year, the result will be another wave or two or three of new cases.

So, COVID-19 isn't going away until we have a vaccine. That's what public health officials have understood all along. Some politicians have tried to silence them until after the election, but a few have had the courage to speak out.

Personally, I'm not making any travel plans until next year.

[CheckMark]

Keeneland has cancelled the 2020 Spring Meet

[tom]

Some good news - TVG and NBC and FOX have agreed to cover racing together.
This weekend, FS1 will have America's Day at the Races from 1:30pm-6:30pm while NBCSN will have TVG shows airing late afternoon.
Some regular NBC earlier afternoon are TBD so may be some racing there?

At least we will have lots of options for whatever is running.

[mick]

Originally Posted by tom

Some good news - TVG and NBC and FOX have agreed to cover racing together.
This weekend, FS1 will have America's Day at the Races from 1:30pm-6:30pm while NBCSN will have TVG shows airing late afternoon.
Some regular NBC earlier afternoon are TBD so may be some racing there?

At least we will have lots of options for whatever is running.

That is some good news, Tom. With everything else canceled or postponed, horse racing is all there, having watched all the Andy Griffith show reruns.

[Ted Craven]

As of 4:30pm ET today, here is the list of open and closed tracks:

Thoroughbred - Racing with no public attendance
Fairgrounds
Golden Gate
Gulfstream
Laurel Park
Mahoning Valley
Oaklawn
Remington Park (Quarterhorse)
Sam Houston
Santa Anita
Tampa Bay Downs
Turfway Park

Thoroughbred - Closed/Canceled
Aqueduct
Charles Town
Fairmount Park
Keeneland
Parx Racing
Penn National
Sunland
Turf Paradise

Standardbred - Racing with no public attendance
Cal Expo
Flamboro
Miami Valley
Northfield
Rideau Carleton
Rosecroft
Saratoga
Western Fair

Standardbred - Closed until further notice
Buffalo
Century Downs
Dover Downs
Fraser Downs
Freehold
Hawthorne
Meadowlands
Monticello
Mohawk/Woodbine
Pocono Downs at Mohegan Sun
Pompano
The Meadows
Yonkers

[The Pook]

Horse racing has a little silver lining going on with this virus problem. An excerpt from an article in the NY Times today:

“While social distancing has become regular practice in so many parts of American life, many fans have stuck with one of the few live sports still happening, even remotely.
More than $17.5 million was bet on races at Aqueduct from Friday through Sunday, according the to association. TVG, which broadcasts races from more than 150 tracks across the world, saw a 75 percent increase in wagering on its betting platform on Saturday and Sunday, compared with the same two days in 2019.
The FanDuel Racing app was downloaded more over the weekend than it had been in the previous three months, reaching the No. 6 most-downloaded on Apple’s list of free sports apps, according to TVG. The app was designed for first-time horse-racing bettors in anticipation of the Triple Crown races.
“We didn’t think it would take off under these circumstances,” said Kip Levin, the chief executive officer of TVG. “As you can tell, people were looking for a distraction.”
The network also told its anchors and commentators to simplify their explanations and insights to make them understandable for novice bettors. Its simulcast arrangement with NBC Sports could nearly double its reach: TVG is in 45 million homes while the NBC Sports Network is in 83 million homes.
So far, TVG has a significant number of tracks still running to broadcast. “But that may be changing by the hour,” Levin said.”

Pook

[omar]

And down goes GP. Still open FG, OP, TAM, LRL and I think SA.

[Ted Craven]

Originally Posted by omar

And down goes GP. Still open FG, OP, TAM, LRL and I think SA.

Accuracy helps ...

Racing at Gulfstream suspended for TODAY March 20 while new health procedures implemented; resumes Saturday March 21: https://www.gulfstreampark.com/racing

Racing suspended at Laurel Park until further notice: https://www.paulickreport.com/news/t...es-initiative/

Harness Racing suspended at Mohawk/Woodbine until further notice: https://woodbine.com/mohawk/

Running today (so far): TAM, FG, OP, SA, GG, TP, REM, CT

Ted

[omar]

Hey, that sounds good to me. When I play tracks outside the eastern time zone it just makes the day too long for me.
Stay healthy.

[The Pook]

Is Our Fight Against Coronavirus Worse Than the Disease?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/o...e=articleShare

This sounds like a plan. For 99% of the population this virus causes mild cold like symptoms. As suggested by this author let things return mostly to normal. Trying to contain it like China or South Korea or Singapore is weeks too late anyway. Reserve testing for those 60 and over, or with preexisting medical issues. Isolate the positives. Most everyone else gets the virus and in so doing develops a herd immunity. For those in the younger group that do get seriously sick there would be more capacity to treat them.

This way the whole world economy doesn’t need to grind to a halt.

Pook