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Leicester To Race On

Leicester Racecourse’s planned fixture on July 7 will go ahead following consultation with relevant authorities after a COVID-19 spike prompted increased lockdown measures in the area earlier this week.

The area lockdown has reinstated restrictions to what they were on June 14, at which point racing was permitted under strict guidelines. Owners will not be permitted at Leicester on July 7. The British Horseracing Authority has liaised with Racetech to ensure stalls handlers will be available for the fixture; Tuesday evening’s meeting at Leicester was conducted without starting stalls.

A statement from the BHA read, “We are grateful for the input of representative bodies in developing our protocols for responding to local lockdowns. Everyone in the sport remains in agreement that safety is the number one priority while racing’s behind closed doors resumption continues. The sport’s strict health screening and social distancing protocols continue to ensure that racecourses are amongst the most controlled of workplaces, and that local communities are not affected by behind closed doors fixtures.”

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Ellis Park Kicks Off Runhappy Summer Meet With Limited Attendance

The RUNHAPPY Summer Meet at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., kicked off Thursday with what is the new normal, at least for now: capacity limited to 50 percent in two reserved-seat areas and no general admission. To Henderson Mayor Steve Austin, just staging an opening day with any spectators was a victory after the havoc the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked on the world, including horse racing.

“It's great,” Austin said. “We were concerned that maybe we weren't able to have an opening day at Ellis Park. It is limited participation, but it's great to have that. I'm glad the governor worked with Ellis Park and the tracks to get some folks in right now and maybe the possibility of increasing attendance in the future. It's something people look forward to. It's an annual event, kind of like baseball, every summer Ellis Park opens. So it's great that Ellis Park is opening today, and great that we have a number of people here – and it'll be even better once it can be enlarged as far as attendance.”

Four of Thursday's races were forced off the turf by the deluge of rain in recent days. All the same, a healthy total of $2,212,620 was wagered on the nine-race card, the majority across the country through online betting platforms as most racetracks that are running are doing so without spectators.

“It's been a tough few months for Ellis Park and the whole community, and I was really pleased that we could put together this race day today,” said Ellis Park general manager Jeff Inman. “The community pulled together and supported us. The staff pulled together and supported us, and I couldn't be prouder of everybody.”

If it was a unique opening day, with the seating limitations, Inman said: “I think the fans overall are positive…. A few people are disappointed that they can't be on the rail or in the grandstand. But most of them are really happy and positive that we actually have live racing again.”

Inman acknowledged some opening-day operational glitches, specifically with the race video camera work.

“We lost a few cameramen at the last minute; we desperately tried to get them hired,” he said. “Our camera work today wasn't our best. We're working on it, and working to have that problem fixed as quickly as possible.”

The strength of the jockey colony lived up to its billing.

James Graham, last year's leading rider at the meet, took the early lead by winning the first race on the maiden-claimer Smirk for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Graham followed that with victory on Calumet Farm's Easy Shot in the sixth race, a second-level allowance race that came off the turf.

Rafael Bejarano, back riding at Ellis Park regularly for the first time since he left for California in 2007, didn't waste any time getting back in the winner's circle, either, taking the second race on the $16,000 claimer Gangly for trainer Ron Moquett.

The first 2-year-old race of the meet was won by the first-time starter All I Know, who shipped in from Keeneland for owner-trainer Jason McCutchen. All I Know paid $41.60 to win after leading all the way under Crystal Conning in the five-furlong race to prevail by 1 1/2 lengths over 9-1 Fast Bob, with favored Looting third. Conning is an apprentice jockey who has won with six of her last 12 mounts, including her last three – one each at Ellis, Belterra and Indiana Grand. She began riding last year.

Julien Leparoux, who will ride regularly at Ellis Park for the first time this summer after going to Saratoga for most of his career, won the finale aboard the maiden Not A Problem for trainer Rusty Arnold.

“Especially because some of the situations we've faced, we've really been blessed with a lot of talented jockeys this year,” Inman said. “And that is really part of what we can offer this year. We were blessed to get the RUNHAPPY sponsorship, and one of the reasons we did was because of the great 2-year-old program that we have here at Ellis Park. We have some really good horses, we have some really good jockeys. There's going to be a lot to look forward to this meet.”

Ellis Park runs through Sunday, then is closed for live racing (while remaining open for Historical Horse Racing gaming and simulcasting) next week to accommodate Keeneland's five-date make-up meet. Ellis resumes live racing July 17 with a Friday through Sunday format through Aug. 30, with the track's traditional closing seeking turned over to Churchill Downs for a delayed Kentucky Derby Week.

Management is hoping that after the break for Keeneland, additional areas in the grandstand boxes and picnic tables on the racetrack apron will be available for the public as reserved seating.

“We have to have contract tracing (ability), so we have to do seats by reservations,” Inman said. “So if you come here hoping to be on the lawn or the grandstand, we're not there yet.”

The post Ellis Park Kicks Off Runhappy Summer Meet With Limited Attendance appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Shore Thing: Monmouth Opens Friday With Limited Crowd Size, COVID-19 Protocols

In accordance with new state restrictions, Monmouth Park will tentatively be limited on crowd size for live racing days starting with opening day on Friday, July 3, when post time for the six-race twilight card will be 5 p.m.

The restrictions on crowd size are part of the ongoing COVID-19 guidelines and the exact numbers are pending final guidance from state officials.

“We will continue to operate under the protocols mandated by the Governor's office,” said Dennis Drazin, chairman and CEO of Darby Development LLC, operators of the racetrack. “We're happy and grateful that we'll get to kick off our 75^th season of racing tomorrow and look forward to fuller capacities when permitted.”

Outside dining at the racetrack will be utilized to the fullest extent possible, under state guidelines, as will the William Hill Sports Book, which will be permitted to open at 25 percent capacity.

Gates open for simulcasting, live racing and the Sports Book at 11 a.m.

Admission and parking are free all season except for Haskell Day on July 18.

Additional details will be forthcoming shortly.

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OBS President Tom Ventura Joins TDN Writers’ Room

As president of the sale company that conducted the final auction before the coronavirus pandemic shut down society as well as the first one after restrictions were lifted, OBS’s Tom Ventura has had to learn on the fly. Wednesday, he joined the TDN Writers’ Room podcast presented by Keeneland to offer his advice for the rest of the industry on keeping business going amidst COVID-19 and his impressions of the rebounding sale market.

Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Ventura said of the lessons gleaned through the pandemic, “One of the things that we learned real quickly, that you had to be pretty flexible and be able to adapt on the fly. There were restrictions coming down the pike, literally, as we were about to hold the March sale … As things were tightening up, it became very hectic, almost on an hourly basis as things were being changed. So we met with the local government officials and we got the advice, at the state level, what things were being required and what we could do. It was still feel your own way, because there wasn’t a lot of dramatic restrictions that were being put in place.”

Ventura noted that while phone bidding was ramped up for the March sale, the key to pulling off the delayed April sale in June was the incorporation of online bidding, something that will likely be a permanent feature in the auction world going forward.

“As we had to ramp back up for June, we put the online bidding into overdrive,” he said. “That was in play in terms of something that we wanted to get done, but it got moved to the head of the class real quick. And I really have to appreciate the work that [Tampa-based software company] Xcira did, because from OBS’s perspective, it’s obviously a super high priority for us. We were able and willing to work 24/7 to get it up and running for the spring sale and fortunately, Xcira jumped in right there with us to get it up. Now, it worked. I thought it was very good. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that it will down the road, but it certainly [did the job].”

Things looked ominous for both the racing and sales worlds at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but tracks resuming operations and positive results from Fasig-Tipton Midlantic this week suggest a rebound is underway. Ventura agreed that the mindset has changed and pointed to the upcoming OBS July sale as another barometer for the industry.

“The [July] sale, we’ll get a real true test of the depth of the market. We have another thousand horses on the market,” he said. “I’m hopeful, and I think based on our sale and the Fasig-Tipton sale, they held up pretty well comparatively, and they had a lot of participation. I think the other thing that’s going to benefit us now is that all the racetracks for the most part are up and running. There’s a positive frame of mind now, compared to March, as we were just in the beginning of this, as things were shutting down.”

Elsewhere on the show, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, the writers recapped Fasig-Tipton Midlantic and expressed concern about the vague safety protocols announced for the GI Kentucky Derby. Later on, in light of the number of top horses who have dropped off the Derby trail, they each picked one supplemental horse for their 3-year-old fantasy stables. Click here to listen to the podcast and click here to watch it on Vimeo.

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