Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa. will not host the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby or Grade 1 Cotillion in 2020, according to the Thoroughbred Daily News. Both $1 million races, originally scheduled for Sept. 26, are victims of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“We will not be running any open stakes races this year,” racing secretary David Osojnak told the TDN. “We will be going on hiatus. The virus, the plague, just wiped out everything. We think we will be able to come back stronger in 2021.”
The late September date is an issue this year because Churchill Downs postponed the Kentucky Derby to Sept. 5 and the Preakness was rescheduled for Oct. 3. That left Parx little chance of attracting top 3-year-olds for its premier stakes races.
Instead, Osojnak reallocated the purse money from the Pennsylvania Derby and Cotillion to overnight purses, allowing him to keep them near levels from 2019 until casino revenue starts flowing again.
Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.
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