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Hall Of Famer Espinoza Tests Positive For Coronavirus

Hall of Fame jockey Victor Espinoza has tested positive for coronavirus and will be sidelined for at least 10-days, according to his agent, Brian Beach. Espinoza's positive test was first reported by Daily Racing Form.

Espinoza was named on mounts on Friday's opening day card at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif., but was taken off after he was unable to get results prior to the day's races from a coronavirus test he took earlier in the week in Orange County, north of Del Mar. A subsequent test he took in La Jolla, just south of Del Mar, came back positive Friday afternoon.

Espinoza took the tests after experiencing flu-like symptoms earlier in the week and learning that Martin Garcia, whom Espinoza came into contact with last weekend at Los Alamitos, had tested positive for coronavirus. Garcia, formerly Southern California based, rode at Los Alamitos Friday and Saturday and at Prairie Meadows in Iowa on Sunday. Garcia was tested on Tuesday at the direction of officials at Keeneland prior to that track's five-day meet that began on Wednesday, and the results came back positive.

“Victor is fine,” said Beach. “He was feeling flu-y early in the week and on Wednesday, when he found out Martin tested positive, he said, 'Uh-oh,' and got tested. He's not showing any symptoms now.”

Beach said Espinoza has been extremely careful since the coronavirus pandemic was declared in March. “He moved to his home in Del Mar during the Santa Anita shutdown,” Beach said. “He wanted to do everything he could to avoid exposure to this.”

Beach said his understanding is that Espinoza will be unable to ride in California for a minimum of 10 days from the day of the positive test.

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Hit The Road Takes Oceanside On Del Mar Opening Day; Despite Empty Stands, Handle Increases

European veteran Umberto Rispoli made his Del Mar debut a notable one by winning three races – including the featured Runhappy Oceanside Stakes – as the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club kicked off its 2020 season with nary a fan in the stands at the seaside track in Del Mar, Calif..

The shore oval began its 81st season in fine fashion on the racetrack and in the counting house, but it surely missed its usual crowd of 40,000 or so party goers who traditionally make the opener a love-in as they welcome racing back to San Diego.

“We're racing and we're going to continue to race this summer,” said DMTC's CEO, Joe Harper. “We'd love to have our fans, of course, but we're delighted to be racing.”

Rispoli, the 31-year-old Italian rider who has made a serious impact in the riding scene in Southern California in the past year, saved ground nicely with his More Than Ready colt Hit the Road, then when a slight hole opened turning for home on the Del Mar turf course, gunned him through the middle and went on to tally impressively by a length and three quarters.

The Kentucky-bred is owned by Daniel Koetteing's D K Racing, Kyle Yost's Taste of Victory Stables and Rick Gold and is trained by Dan Blacker.

Hit the Road, the 8-5 favorite in the Runhappy Oceanside, paid $5.20, $3.60 and $2.80 across the board.

Second was Wertheimer & Frere's Kandrel ($13.20 and $8.60), while Peter Redekop's Ajourneytofreedom ran third ($9.40). The splits were :22.82, :47.41, 1:11.71, 1:23.70 and 1:35.09.

Del Mar's total handle on the 10-race card was $15,346,805, a 3.54% increase over 2019's Opening Day total of $14,821,720.

The overall racing was highly competitive (seven of the 10 races called for photo finishes to decide the winner) and cleanly run. The good start to the 28-day session bodes well for more good racing to follow on the track's Friday-Saturday-Sunday weekly schedule leading up to a Labor Day Monday (September 7) finale.

First post daily will be at 2 p.m.

UMBERTO RISPOLI (Hit the Road, winner) – “I think Dan (trainer Dan Blacker) has done a terrific job with this horse. He ran a very, very good race today. He broke really well and so I could take the rail. I had a lot of horse; more horse than I thought. Maybe I could have won this race by more. I love being in California; it feels like home. I'm working hard every day and having some results. Everyone told me about Del Mar and Opening Day, what a big deal it is. But we can't have the fans now; too bad. But right now I'm still loving Del Mar. It's a good day for me.”

DAN BLACKER (Hit the Road, winner) – “I'm just thrilled to win a big race on opening day at Del Mar. The Oceanside is like my Kentucky Derby. It's unfortunate that there were no fans, but that's the way things are. Umberto (Rispoli) ran a faultless race and the horse is super talented. You can put him on the lead or take him back and Umberto put him in a perfect spot.”

FRACTIONS: :22.82 :47.41 1:11.71 1:23.70 1:35.09

The victory by Rispoli was his first stakes win at Del Mar.

The victory by Blacker is his second stakes win at Del Mar and first in the Runhappy Oceanside.

The winner is owned by D K Racing (Daniel Koetteing of San Diego), Taste of Victory Stables (Kyle Yost of Middletown, MD) and Rick Gold.

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Luis Saez Tests Positive For Coronavirus At Keeneland, Remains Asymptomatic

Jockey Luis Saez was abruptly removed from mounts early on Friday's race card at Keeneland after he was notified he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to the Daily Racing Form's Matt Hegarty.

Saez remains asymptomatic for COVID-19, and was tested Thursday morning as part of routine monitoring for jockeys competing at the track. He will now be required to enter a minimum 10-day quarantine period, which means he will be unable to ride Maximum Security in his anticipated summer debut in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap next weekend.

Two days ago on July 8, fellow jockey Martin Garcia tested positive for the virus as part of routine testing required to ride at Keeneland. Garcia had been on his way to ride at Indiana Grand when he was informed of his test results.

In the past ten days, Saez has ridden at Keeneland, Indiana Grand, Belmont Park and Los Alamitos. Agent Kiaran McLaughlin told Hegarty the rider had tested negative for the virus when in New York on July 5.

Monmouth To Cap General Admission Tickets For Haskell Day At 500

Monmouth Park is putting 500 general admission tickets on sale for the July 18 TVG.com Haskell Stakes starting at noon on Saturday, July 11, on the track's web site at www.monmouthpark.com.

Tickets cost $100 apiece and include admission, a Haskell hat, a program and parking. Ticketholders will also have access to limited seating.

At the present time, these will be the only tickets available to the general public for the $1 million, Grade 1 Haskell, the centerpiece of the Monmouth Park meet. Attendance at the track is limited by a state mandate in the ongoing effort to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

“In meeting our commitment and obligations to our sponsors, horsemen and season box holders we're limited to offering 500 tickets to the general public at this time,” said Dennis Drazin, Chairman and CEO of Darby Development LLC, which operates the track. “We're grateful for Gov. Phil Murphy's leadership during these difficult times and appreciate his willingness to work with us in allowing fans on site. It's imperative we do our part, in what has become the new normal, to help slow the spread of the virus.”

General admission tickets will only be available online. There will be no ticket sales on Haskell Day.

Presently, there are no plans for additional tickets to be made available to the general public. Should Gov. Murphy issue any revised executive orders which allow Monmouth Park to increase attendance capacity for Haskell Day those tickets will then be put on sale.

Those purchasing general admission tickets will be able to enter the track through the Main Grandstand entrance.

Gates open at 10:30 a.m. on Haskell Day, with a first race post time of noon.

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