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Del Mar To Add Monday Card On July 27 As Make-Up Date; Reschedules Stakes For July 25-27

The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., received approval from the California Horse Racing Board to add Monday, July 27, to the live racing calendar to make up in part for the three lost days (July 17-19) due to an outbreak of COVID-19 among the Southern California jockey colony.

The track is expected to request two additional as-yet undetermined days later in the meet that runs through Sept. 7. The regular schedule is Fridays through Sundays, with racing now scheduled on Monday, July 27, and closing day, Monday, Sept. 7.

“We're looking forward to resuming racing on Friday, July 24,” said Del Mar Thoroughbred Club executive vice president for racing Tom Robbins. “Adding a race card on Monday, July 27 provides our horsemen and women with additional opportunities to run their horses.”

Racing secretary David Jerkens said entries for the July 27 card would be drawn on Friday, July 24.

“We applaud Del Mar's management for quickly adapting during these unprecedented times,” said Nick Alexander, chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. “Winning a race at Del Mar is special and a four-day race week will provide our members with additional opportunities to do so.”

Three days of racing were cancelled this weekend after 15 jockeys tested positive for COVID-19. The tests were ordered after Hall of Famer Victor Espinoza and current leading Southern California jockey Flavien Prat tested positive last week. Swabs of all jockeys were taken on Tuesday, July 14, and protocol in San Diego County is that those who test positive may resume regular activities after an immediate 10-day quarantine, provided they are asymptomatic.

According to Del Mar officials, all but one of the Southern California jockeys who tested positive were at Los Alamitos on July 4, when Luis Saez and Martin Garcia – who subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 – flew to Southern California from the Midwest to ride that day's card.

Del Mar has rescheduled the four stakes scheduled for this weekend, including the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap expected to feature the return of last year's 3-year-old male champion, Maximum Security, making his debut for trainer Bob Baffert.

The new stakes lineup for the July 24-26 weekend:

Friday, July 24: Daisycutter Handicap (originally scheduled July 18) for fillies and mares, 3 and up at five furlongs on turf; the Fleet Treat Stakes for Golden State eligible California-bred or sired 3-year-old fillies going seven furlongs.
Saturday, July 25: G2 San Diego Handicap (originally scheduled July 18) for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles; G2 San Clemente Stakes for 3-year-old fillies going one mile on turf; Smiling Tiger Stakes for 3-year-olds going six furlongs.
Sunday, July 26: G2 Eddie Read Stakes (originally scheduled July 19) for 3-year-olds and up going nine furlongs on turf; California Dreamin' Stakes for Golden State eligible California-bred or sired 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles on turf.

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Fernandez Is Fifth Jockey Tied To Los Alamitos To Test Positive For COVID-19

Jockey Eduard Rojas Fernandez is the fifth jockey to ride at Los Alamitos and test positive for COVID-19 in the past month, reports the Daily Racing Form. Fernandez was off his evening mounts over the three-day racing weekend after he was notified of the positive.

Neil Bricks, Fernandez' agent, said the rider did not have acute symptoms. Fernandez posted on Twitter in Spanish that he “will be out for weeks.”

Other riders reporting COVID-19 positives this month include: Victor Espinoza, Martin Garcia, Flavien Prat, and Luis Saez, each of whom rode the Thoroughbred card at Los Alamitos on July 4.

Garcia later rode at Prairie Meadows; Saez had mounts at Belmont, Indiana Grand, and Keeneland; and Prat rode at both Del Mar and Keeneland.

Prat Tests Positive For COVID-19 After Returning From Keeneland

Leading Southern California jockey Flavien Prat was taken off mounts at Del Mar on Sunday after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier in the day.

Prat arrived back in the San Diego area after riding six races at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday and was required to be tested under Del Mar protocols for jockeys who travel out of town. He was given a nasal swab test by Scripps Hospital in La Jolla and notified a couple of hours later he had contracted the virus, according to his agent, Derek Lawson. Track officials said Prat was at Del Mar when he was contacted by Scripps personnel but had not arrived at the jockeys' room yet.

Prat will be be sidelined a minimum of 10 days from Monday, according to track officials, meaning he could return as soon as July 24, provided he has no symptoms.

Del Mar officials said all jockeys and jockeys' room personnel will be tested prior to the next day of racing on Friday, July 17.

Prat is the fourth jockey to ride the July 4 card at Los Alamitos in Cypress, Calif., who since tested positive for COVID-19. On July 8, Martin Garcia was required to be tested in order to ride at Indiana Grand and came up positive. He had ridden at Ellis Park July 2, Los Alamitos July 3-4 and Prairie Meadows July 5.

On July 10, Luis Saez was taken off mounts at Keeneland after a test from the previous day was positive.

Saez flew to California to ride Uncle Chuck to victory for Bob Baffert in the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby on July 4, then rode the July 5 card at Belmont Park. He was required to be tested by New York Racing Association officials prior to riding July 5 and tested negative. Saez then rode at Indiana Grand on July 8, at Keeneland on July 9, then rode the second race at Keeneland on July 10 before being notified of his positive test and removed from his remaining mounts.

Espinoza was tested after experiencing flu-like symptoms early in the week and was taken off mounts on Del Mar's opening day, July 10. He learned that evening he was positive for COVID-19.

“It is encouraging that in both cases our protocols worked,” Del Mar CEO Joe Harper said of Prat and Espinoza's positive tests. “We will continue to be vigilant to ensure the safety of the people who work here and live in our community.”

A July 2 article from the Harvard Medical School explains that testing for COVID-19 is not foolproof.

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Prat Latest Southern California Jockey to Test Positive for Coronavirus

According to his agent, Derek Lawson, top California rider Flavien Prat has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Because he left California to ride Saturday at Keeneland, Prat was required to take a test Sunday before being allowed to ride at Del Mar. The test results were positive and Prat had to take off all his mounts.

“These athletes, they know their bodies,” Lawson said. “When I picked him up at the airport, he said, ‘I think I have it.'”

Lawson said that Prat is feeling fine and will return to his home in the Los Angeles area to wait out the quarantine period.

Along with Victor Espinoza, Martin Garcia and Luis Saez, Prat becomes the fourth jockey who rode on the July 4 card at Los Alamitos to test positive. For Saez, it cost him the mount on Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) in Saturday’s GII San Diego H. He will be replaced by Abel Cedillo, but trainer Bob Baffert told the Daily Racing Form that Saez will regain the mount once his quarantine period is over.

Prat, who was the leading rider at the 2019 summer meet at Del Mar, will also lose several important mounts and Lawson was quick to blame Los Alamitos for his predicament.

“All of this transpired at Los Alamitos,” Lawson said. “They were so careful at Santa Anita and then at Los Alamitos it was like the wild, wild west. They let everything get out of hand. We only went over there to ride Bellafina and for Baffert. They didn’t do anything. It was like, ‘Come on in, everyone is welcome.’ After how well everything went at Santa Anita, what a shame.”

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