coronavirus | Horse Racing Free Tips

A Spotlight on Stress in the Era of COVID: Price Bell

Working in racing has always been a stressful occupation; a roller-coaster of emotions, triumphs and tragedies, long hours and travel. Add a global pandemic and unprecedented economic worry, with many participants fearing for their health, livelihoods and businesses, and the stress can become almost overwhelming. It’s the sort of topic many people don’t like to talk about, but we asked several industry participants to open about what particular stresses they were feeling during these very concerning times, and how they were dealing with them.

PRICE BELL, Mill Ridge Farm

We are very lucky. My godfather spent 20 days in the ICU due to COVID-19 and twice was presented DNR papers to sign, giving him 30 minutes to improve his oxygen saturation levels prior to intubating him.

He is home- still recovering, but home. He was diagnosed on March 16^th. We spoke on March 18^th and at that time, “it was not as bad as the flu, just more aggravating.” On March 20th he was admitted to the hospital, March 22nd the ICU and discharged home on April 12th. He is still recovering, but can now walk for 30 minutes. He played fullback for Coach Parcells at Vanderbilt, and on March 15th he was in the best shape of his life. We are lucky.

It is really hard. Like many, Beth and I both work full-time. Trying to excel in our professions, parent/teach/keep it on the rails with our two children (five and three) and have a relationship is impossible. The peace of two sleeping children is often our greatest victory.

Perspective, patience and community have been key to “handling” the stress of the pandemic.

Perspective that our health, the health of our team, the health of their families and the health of our families and loved ones is paramount.

Patience that we are all going through this together. We have to be patient with each other because it’s impossible to know if someone is up or down on the “coronacoaster.” I can’t say that I always have perspective and patience, but it’s something I am consciously working towards.

Our community has provided us with plenty of silver linings. We have felt great joy in sharing Mill Ridge on virtual tours, we have had many family picnics that never would have occurred because we would have been “too busy” in the past and we have forged relationships with plenty of neighbors with whom we would have normally only shared a passing hello. And, the love I felt at the outpouring of support when I tested positive for COVID-19 recently and had to isolate away from my family for 11 days. I was lucky and asymptomatic.

We will get through this and be stronger together.

Would you be willing to share your thoughts on stress during this particularly difficult time? Email the TDN’s Katie Ritz at katieritz@thetdn.com or Sue Finley at suefinley@thetdn.com.

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Apprentice Jockey Tests Positive for Coronavirus in UK

An apprentice jockey in the UK has tested positive for the coronavirus, the British Horseracing Authority confirmed on Sunday. The rider in question has not participated in a race several weeks, but did recently attend a race meeting. The identity of the apprentice has not been released. British racing was halted in March until June 1 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Once racing started up again, all racing personnel have been operating under strict government guidelines and safety protocols to ensure that social distancing is followed and the chance of catching the virus is reduced. No crowds have been allowed to watch the races, with moderate amounts of owners finally allowed back recently.

“Having been notified that an apprentice jockey had tested positive for coronavirus, the BHA has worked with the health protection agency, PJA, the jockey and their yard to assist their employer in following government guidance and managing the jockey’s recent close contacts,” said a BHA spokesman. “A handful of people have been identified and asked to self-isolate for 14 days as a result. Further tests taken by close contacts have not returned any further positive results.

“The jockey in question has not taken a ride for a few weeks, though attended a recent race meeting as a member of stable staff, prior to showing any symptoms and before their positive test. It remains important that everyone involved in the sport follows government and racing guidelines and protocols around social distancing and environment hygiene at all times.”

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Keeneland, Fasig-Tipton Lobbying For Overseas Buyers

Overseas buyers are an ever-increasing fixture of the American yearling sales. It is not only the big-spending Maktoum family and Coolmore partners who are vital to the health of the market; an international presence stimulates spending at all levels of trade, fueled by visitors from all across Europe-not least the pinhookers who have enjoyed so much success with their buys at the breeze-ups-and Asia, Australasia and the Middle East.

Global travel restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have, naturally, caused some unrest in the minds of sellers as they put the finishing touches on their yearlings ahead of Fasig-Tipton’s Selected Yearling Showcase in Lexington on Sept. 9 and 10 and Keeneland’s September Yearling Sale from Sept. 13 to 25. Foreign nationals traveling from Europe-as well as Brazil, Iran and China– are currently not permitted to enter the U.S., but Keeneland Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Vince Gabbert said that Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton are together working with government officials on an effort to allow foreign buyers to gain entry for the sales. Gabbert said he is “cautiously optimistic” that they will reach an agreement.

“The way we’ve approached this has been a combination between what we’re seeing with the sports leagues and what we know from a business interest side,” Gabbert said. “We’ve been working very closely with homeland security and we’ve essentially engaged every person we can get a hold of to help us with this, from Congressman [Andy] Barr, who has been extremely helpful from the outset-Senator [Mitch] McConnell, Ambassador [Kelly] Craft and Commissioner [Ryan] Quarles through his relationships with the USDA and Secretary [Sonny] Perdue [of the USDA]. All of them have been really willing to help us and to foster these conversations with homeland security because there are specific waivers that we will have to fill out for our customers who want to travel to make sure they’re able to get over here. All of our conversations with them have been, ‘tell us what protocols you need us to follow for you to have confidence that we’re not going to create an issue, and we’ll do that.’ All of those folks have been extremely helpful, and each individual I’ve mentioned has assigned a specific staffer to our issue so we have specific folks in each of those offices that we’re working with to make sure we get as many people over here as possible.”

Gabbert said ensuring government has an understanding of the importance and economic impact of the Thoroughbred industry is a priority for the Keeneland staff even during normal times, and so the foundation was already laid.

“I feel good about the conversations we’ve had,” he said. “I feel really good about the effort that our government officials are putting in on our behalf. A lot of it is just working through that bureaucracy that just automatically exists within government. I’m cautiously optimistic; we feel like we have a good plan in place for the entirety of the sale and we’re working in concert with Fasig-Tipton as well so we have the same protocols in both places and we’re working together with them on this request as well, so this has been a joint request on behalf of both sales companies. We have an unprecedented partnership with how we’re working together and I feel good about the request and what we’ve put in place. We just have to continue to navigate it and make sure we’re talking to the right folks.”

While overseas visitors may be faced with quarantines upon returning to their home countries, Gabbert said that doesn’t seem to have dampened enthusiasm.

“A lot of our international buyers, especially the Europeans, have expressed a strong, strong interest in coming over here regardless of what happens when they get back,” he said. “We are very excited about the amount of enthusiasm that people are showing in wanting to be here. We’re doing everything we can and we’re fortunate there are still a number of countries that are not on that prohibition. Japan, Australia, and a number of the South American countries that are our markets as well, people are free to travel to and from. They may have different requirements when they return to their home countries, but we are going to do everything we can from a protocol standpoint and everything we can to provide a safe and secure facility so people can come over here with confidence and return home with confidence.”

Gabbert said at this stage that it doesn’t look as if visitors will be required to quarantine when arriving in Kentucky, but COVID testing may be a part of the process.

“We don’t have everything finalized but we’re working very closely with our local health department and both us and Fasig-Tipton are working very closely with local health professionals to make sure that we’re following all the recommendations from the CDC and the local health department,” he said. “Right now we would not anticipate any need for a quarantine or for people to isolate once they get here, but we are looking at what might be available from a testing standpoint, how we monitor that-our goal is to give everybody the confidence that they’re coming onto the grounds in a safe and secure manner, and what all does that entail? Testing is part of that, enforcing social distancing and requiring a mask, reducing capacity in the sales pavilion but still providing other opportunities for people to bid on horses; those are the things we’re working through.”

Gabbert acknowledged that the presence of overseas buyers is “extremely important” and that the Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton teams will continue to lobby for their presence and update their customers along the way.

“I can’t emphasize enough how much we need and want everybody that can get here to get here,” he said. “Especially when you look throughout the sale, each book essentially has a really different feel to it and it’s imperative that we maintain that strength and that buying bench throughout the entire sale, and the international presence is a tremendous part of that. We’re going to keep working on it until we get definition and we’ll be communicating out to our customers and if there is paperwork they have to fill out we’ll be in a spot to assist them to navigate that process.”

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CDI Seeks to Sell Arlington Land

The long-term future for Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) to continue racing in Illinois involves selling its Arlington International Racecourse land for another purpose and transferring the corporation’s racing license to another location.

Bill Carstanjen, the chief executive officer of CDI, outlined the gaming company’s desire to rid itself of Chicago’s premier Thoroughbred venue in a July 30 conference call with investors. His comments came six days after Arlington’s delayed 2020 season opening (because of the pandemic and a bitter contract dispute with local horse people) and one day before 2021 dates applications were due to be filed with the Illinois Racing Board.

Carstanjen was responding to a question from an investment analyst who asked about the gaming corporation’s “broad Illinois strategy” with respect to Arlington.

“We reached an agreement with the horsemen [and] we’re running the race meet right now,” Carstanjen said, according to an edited transcript of the call posted on Yahoo! Finance. “We’ll run a 2020 race meeting. We have an agreement to run a 2021 race meet if we elect to do so. That’s not a long-term viable solution for the Arlington Park license.”

Carstanjen continued: “Long-term for Arlington Park, as we’ve explained on these calls, and [as] we’ve explained to the state, it doesn’t work. The economics don’t work. It’s not a viable solution. We’d like to give the state, given everything that’s going on, an opportunity to help us find a better long-term solution. But the long-term solution is not Arlington Park. That land will have a higher and better purpose for something else at some point.

“But we want to work constructively with all of the constituencies in the market to see if there’s an opportunity to move the license or otherwise change the circumstances so that racing can continue in Illinois. But for us, we’ve been patient and thoughtful and constructive with the parties up in that jurisdiction.

“But long term, that land gets sold, and that license will need to move if it’s going to continue,” Carstanjen said. “And the time frame for doing that is not something I’m going to comment on this call today, and it’s not definitive. But certainly, certainly, it’s something that’s on our mind on a week-to-week basis, if not a day-to-day basis.”

The relationship between Arlington and the horse people who race on the Illinois circuit has been contentious for several years now. The split widened considerably last August when Arlington management stunned Illinois stakeholders by intentionally missing a deadline to apply for a racino license after more than a decade of working with the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (ITHA) to get the Illinois Gaming Act passed as a way to boost purses via other forms of betting.

Arlington’s decision not to pursue slot machines and table games at the track took on heightened controversy because Arlington’s corporate parent, Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), has an ownership stake in a nearby competing casino and is aiming to open another near Chicago.

Horsemen have stated a belief that CDI doesn’t want Arlington competing with its own (and potentially more lucrative) venues. Last summer, CDI cited the racino law’s requirement of having to contribute gaming revenues to the Thoroughbred purse account as a competitive disadvantage it did not want to undertake.

The Daily Herald of suburban Chicago obtained a statement on Thursday from the ITHA that stated “For Churchill’s CEO to say preposterously that Churchill has been ‘patient’ with other stakeholders speaks to the height of Churchill’s contempt for the elected officials and working families of Illinois. The very least that Churchill could do is be honest about its true intention: the company cares only about maximizing profit and is happy to sacrifice the spirit of Illinois law and the livelihood of working Illinoisans to serve its greed.”

Carstanjen also disclosed on the call that despite applying for a sports betting license in March, Arlington no longer plans on pursuing it.

“Currently, we’re not planning on doing sports wagering there through the Arlington license. We’re happy to play heavily in Illinois and sports wagering through our Rivers [Casino] license.” That venue is about 10 miles from Arlington and CDI owns a 61% stake in it.

The Daily Herald quoted a rebuke from Tom Hayes, the mayor of Arlington Heights, where the track is located.

“It’s very disappointing to hear,” Hayes said. “Certainly, I’ve never felt Churchill Downs was all that concerned about Arlington Heights and our community at all. I think they’re concerned about the bottom line.”

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