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QIPCO Announces British Champions Day Prize Money

Total prize money for the 10th QIPCO British Champions Day on Oct. 17 was cut to £2.5 million, QIPCO announced on Thursday. The purse reduction is a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but the raceday remains the richest in Great Britain. The G1 QIPCO Champion S. will be run for £750,000, while the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. sponsored by QIPCO will be £650,000. Both the G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares and the G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint S. will be conducted at £350,000 and the G2 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup will carry a purse of £300,000. Races will close on Sept. 1.

“We are pleased to be able to stage a card worth £2.5 million on QIPCO British Champions Day despite our income streams being so negatively affected and the enormous challenges facing the sport currently,” said British Champions Series Chief Executive Rod Street. “QIPCO British Champions Day has seen some superlative performances over the past decade and it is hugely important to us that we continue to make running a horse on the day as attractive as possible. We are very grateful for QIPCO’s long-standing partnership of British Champions Series and British Champions Day which has enabled us to make this early commitment.”

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Spectatorless Racing to Continue in UK

In the latest resumption of racing update, racing behind closed doors is set to continue for the foreseeable future, the British Horseracing Authority announced on Thursday. The BHA thanked participants for their continued support and cooperation in following the behind closed doors protocols, but stressed that with both government and public health concerns about a rise in cases and a potential ‘second wave’ of COVID-19 cases, that it is vital everyone in racing continues to follow the proper protocols so that progress can be resumed towards re-introduction of spectators at the earliest available opportunity through the rescheduling of pilot events.

BHA Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jerry Hill has requested all participants and racecourse attendees to follow the following three steps to help keep everyone safe:

Follow all the social distancing requirements when you attend racing, whether you’re in the ‘green zone’ for participants or the owners’ area.
Do not cross from one zone to another, as this weakens the controls and could lead to many more people being quarantined if there is a positive case, as well as risking people’s health.
Please let the BHA’s Medical Team (medical@britishhorseracing.com) know if there’s a positive case so they can liaise with the public health authorities to manage the NHS Test & Trace process with the minimum impact. Dr. Hill can offer advice to employers, which can limit the effects on their business whilst keeping staff safe.

The BHA also reminded all racing personnel that the reason restrictions have not been further eased, is that the specific government guidance for elite sport applies to racing, whereas these same restrictions would not be applied to local businesses, like the local pub. Public health authorities have also made it clear to the BHA that they will consider a 14-day quarantine period for all racecourse attendees in the same zone as someone who tests positive for COVID-19.

For more information on the latest resumption of racing update, go to www.britishhorseracing.com.

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Del Mar To Increase Attendance Limits To Four Owners Per Horse

The Thoroughbred Owners of California received significant positive feedback from the owners who attended the races at Del Mar last weekend, and space has been increased to four licensed owners per horse for the upcoming race dates.

Unfortunately, non-licensed guests are still not permitted. If a horse has more than four owners wishing to attend the races, TOC will do its best to accommodate if space is available. Owners wishing to attend should email Mary Forney, Executive Director of TOC (mforney@toconline.com) to secure access, and reservations can be made up until 24 hours before race day.

On race day, owners must show their license when entering the Del Mar Race Track and park in the designated area just outside the clubhouse. Owners will enter through the gate on the east side of the track across from the receiving barn. Owners will be required to be on the owner reservation list, provide their CHRB owners license, and undergo a full Covid-19 health screening including a temperature check. Masks will be required to be worn at all times, and owners must respect social distancing guidelines.

The first come, first served seating is located in the spacious clubhouse box seat area. At this time, owners must remain in the clubhouse seating area and may not enter the paddock or the winners circle. Owners are still not permitted to access the backstretch. Any violation of this strict policy will result in a forfeiture of racetrack privileges.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact TOC Executive Director Mary Forney at (626) 826-3782.

The post Del Mar To Increase Attendance Limits To Four Owners Per Horse appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Pennsylvania Derby, Cotillion Will Not Be Held in 2020

Due to circumstances that arose with the coronavirus pandemic, Parx Racing has canceled all of its open stakes for the remainder of the year, including the GI Pennsylvania Derby and the GI Cotillion S. The two $1-million events were part of a program that had been scheduled for Sept. 26 and also included the Turf Amazon S., the Parx Dirt Mile and the GII Gallant Bob S.

“We will not be running any open stakes races this year,” racing secretary David Osojnak said. “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.”

COVID-19 caused two major problems for the Parx stakes. Since being moved to mid-September they had an open spot on the calendar, coming after the major 3-year-old races at Saratoga and before the Breeders’ Cup. That allowed Parx to attract quality fields that included recent Pennsylvania Derby winners like McKinzie (Street Sense) and West Coast (Flatter). Once the GI Kentucky Derby was rescheduled for Sept. 5 and the GI Preakness S. for Oct. 3, the mid-September slot no longer worked.

The purse account at Parx was also dealt a blow with the closing of the on-track casino Mar. 16. It reopened June 29, but can only operate at 50% capacity.

“It was 50-50,” Osojnak said. “As soon as they moved the Derby, we had a problem. We would have had to run three weeks after the Derby and a week before the Preakness. The way things were working out, it just didn’t make any sense to do so, from a financial standpoint or from where the calendar fell.”

Using the money that would have been earmarked for the Sept. 26 stakes has allowed Osojnak to keep purses for overnight races near their 2019 levels.

“We cut our purses, but not significantly,” he said. “I did an analysis of the local tracks–Laurel, Delaware, Monmouth. We had to work things out between the horsemen and Parx management, but what we wanted to do was to make sure that our purses were comparable, plus or minus a few thousand dollars, with those other tracks. We are doing OK, and if the casino revenue picks up, I anticipate that the purses will go back up.”

Parx will hold a handful of Pennsylvania-bred stakes races this year, including five scheduled to be run Sept. 7.

“It’s disappointing that we won’t be able to run these stakes this year,” Osojnak said. “This virus has affected so many things. These races will be back and, we believe, stronger than ever.”

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