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Rispoli, Velazquez, Stevens Won’t Make Saudi Cup After Travel Headaches

Umberto Rispoli, John Velazquez, and retired rider-turned-broadcaster Gary Stevens will not make this year's Saudi Cup after a series of travel headaches benched Stevens and Rispoli and have left Velazquez stranded in Spain. The Thoroughbred Daily News reports that initially, the trio arrived at airports Wednesday to discover their tickets had been cancelled. They were told the Saudi travel team had accidentally double booked the second leg of their journeys and when the extra booking was cancelled, the first leg was automatically cancelled.

Stevens, Rispoli, and Joel Rosario rebooked flights for Thursday and were sitting on the plane in California when they were informed they would not be allowed to travel to their final destination after all. Saudi officials are requiring a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of arrival into Riyadh and because they didn't leave as scheduled, they were told their tests had expired. Rosario was able to remain en route after he showed the results of a rapid test he had taken after the previous day's delay. Stevens and Rispoli were told they could have been allowed to go to their layover in Qatar, but would not have been allowed to board a plane to Riyadh from there.

Velazquez, meanwhile, made it out of Miami and to his layover in Spain before he was told he couldn't proceed due to the same test timing issue. Agent Ron Anderson told the TDN Velazquez was stopped from changing planes and told he could be incarcerated for leaving the terminal he'd arrived in due to COVID-19 restrictions.

William Buick will now be aboard Tacitus, and Miguel Barcelona will ride Max Player in the Saudi Cup.

Devastated 😭 @TVG @DRFInsidePost @thesaudicup @AtTheRaces @theTDN @MaxPlayer__ pic.twitter.com/AlhRxgScGX

— Umberto Rispoli (@umbyrispoli) February 19, 2021

Road to the Derby: Trainer Diodoro Excited About Keepmeinmind’s Prospects

Tom Pedulla is interviewing prominent owners, trainers and jockeys for America’s Best Racing as they travel the Road to the 147thKentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve on May 1 at Churchill Downs.

Sunland Park Officially Cancels Remainder Of 2020-21 Race Meet

The 2020-21 race meet at Sunland Park, which never began as scheduled on Dec. 26, was officially cancelled in its entirety on Thursday. The New Mexico Racing Commission voted at a regularly-scheduled meeting to cancel the remainder of the meet, which hadn't begun because of COVID-19 restrictions in the state.

Casino facilities at racetracks elsewhere in the state have also remained shuttered due to the pandemic.

Restrictions on business capacity and operations vary widely between states and are laid out by state government. Casino facilities on tribal land are autonomous and several in New Mexico have been open for stretches of time while casino facilities at racetracks have been closed. Racetrack casino facilities were closed in the fall during a spike of COVID-19 positives in the state, per a public health order issued by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Sunland's meet had been scheduled to run through March 30 and was supposed to feature the Grade 3 Sunland Derby as part of the Road to the 2021 Kentucky Derby.

Ruidoso Downs, SunRay Park, The Downs at Albuquerque and Zia Park all have dates on the calendar for 2021 but it remains unclear if those meets will go ahead without the reopening of casino facilities.

Fonner Files: Old Man Winter Frosts Opening Weekend

Fonner Park CEO Chris Kotulak shares slices of life from the Grand Island, Neb., racetrack throughout the 2021 meet in the Fonner Files.

Fonner Park begins its 11 weekends of racing this Friday, just as we begin to break free from record-low temperatures that caused the racetrack to be closed for training for the last two weeks. Many horses and horsemen have yet to arrive from Oklahoma and Texas as the polar vortex has frozen nearly an entire nation.

The interruption in training and disruption of arriving horses means short fields and fewer races for opening weekend. Fonner has begun their season in February for decades and the show will mush on.

Last year, “Fon” was at the center of the racing universe due to COVID-19, and tens of thousands of new fans were born and exposed to five-eights-mile racing. Four-furlong races, up-close action and the return of the Dinsdale Pick 5 Jackpot is all on tap as they ready to Bring On The Fon! For updated information, click here.

Groom Willie Moon gives Pickles N Me a face clip ahead of a start in Friday's opening day card at Fonner Park.

The post Fonner Files: Old Man Winter Frosts Opening Weekend appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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