Maryland tracks ordered to close

[BitPlayer]

https://www.drf.com/news/maryland-governor-orders-racetracks-simulcast-facilities-close-part-coronavirus-containment-eff

Not clear to me what happens to the horses.  Do they have to be turned out on a farm?

[toppled]

Once a jockey and/or trainer who travels to multiple tracks gets the virus, I wonder if the tracks will continue to race or if other governors are going to shut them down.  The 1st league to shut down, the NBA, did so after a player tested positive & when that happens in racing all hell is going to break loose.

[BitPlayer]

In my mind, the horses are the key to this.  Unless you send them all out to farms, they need people to care for them.  You only need a relatively small number of additional people to work them in the mornings and run races in front of an empty grandstand in the afternoon.  Doing so would allow you to maintain an income stream for the backstretch.  Of course, the economics change if the casinos that fund purses are not allowed to operate.

[richiebee]

I’m not reading extensively on this, but has anyone mentioned that the backstretch workers (grooms, hot walkers, exercise riders) live and work in close quarters, tend not to have the best health care coverage (if any) and for the most part do not have much time off, paid or otherwise? If anyone (damn those bleeding hearts) gets around to testing backstretch workers, and some or many backstretch workers are affected, that as they say will be that and Racing will join almost every other sport on the sidelines, and like many other businesses will need to scramble to adapt and survive, and likely without the government support other industries will be given.

I realize that WHO statistics cited elsewhere lead one to believe that only the elderly and/or infirm are affected by this virus, which doesn’t explain why entire countries are locked down to some degree and many US cities (including NYC) are headed in that direction. As one health care professional stated late last week, given the amount that is not known about this virus, “overreaction might be the best reaction” in this case.

I’m guessing that with Racing’s strong central leadership, and the fact that Racing is so beloved by the public at large, there is no question that Racing will continue largely unaffected, while almost all other forms of sports and entertainment, not to mention entire cities and countries, are shutting down to some extent, if not totally.

Riiiight.

[Longchamps1970]

The common stock in Churchill Downs (symbol CHDN) is down almost 50% in the last 30 days. If the Derby is rescheduled for June, will that affect the schedule for the Preakness and Belmont? Churchill really needs the money this year for the premium seating. What is it, $50,000 for a box seat? By the way, who looks strongest among Baffert\'s top 3, Authenticate, Badal or Charlatan?

[jma11473]

Richie, I would say elderly and infirm are most likely to be KILLED by the virus, but anyone can carry it and infect others. Hence the worldwide shutdown we are headed towards.

[Bet Twice]

The shutdowns are primarily meant to “flatten the curve” so as not to overwhelm our hospitals and related infrastructure.  If everyone gets it at once we’re in deep....

[P-Dub]

I wouldn\'t be surprised if every track is shut down by the end of the month.

[hellersorr]

At the moment, it is not entirely clear that Maryland racing has been shut down.

TRIGGER WARNING:  As per usual, any time a journalist steps outside his or her field of expertise there are errors of commission and omission.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/03/16/laurel-park-horse-racing-tries-carry-with-or-without-fans/

[hellersorr]

Maryland, My Maryland.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3551767

[P-Dub]

hellersorr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> At the moment, it is not entirely clear that
> Maryland racing has been shut down.
>
> TRIGGER WARNING:  As per usual, any time a
> journalist steps outside his or her field of
> expertise there are errors of commission and
> omission.
>
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/03/16/l
> aurel-park-horse-racing-tries-carry-with-or-withou
> t-fans/

The article had zero to do with it.

[hellersorr]

Paragraphs four, five and six talk about some confusion re the governor\'s statement.

Or did you mean something else by:  \"The article had zero to do with it.\" ?

You lost me.

[jma11473]

As we saw from the Derby moving to September, all scheduling and business considerations are out the window. Right now best-case scenario is that these races take place at all this year.

[P-Dub]

hellersorr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Paragraphs four, five and six talk about some
> confusion re the governor\'s statement.
>
> Or did you mean something else by:  \"The article
> had zero to do with it.\" ?
>
> You lost me.


It was just my personal opinion not based on the article.

I live in the Bay Area where we are pretty much house confined, so any activities involving many people seems unlikely