Prado’s Sweet Ride cruises in the Falls City Handicap (G2)

The home of the Kentucky Derby, which this year was moved to Sept. 5 from May 2 because of the novel coronavirus outbreak, said opening day of its 2020 Spring Meet without spectators will be communicated in the coming days. “There will be no fans for racing,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said in a news release issued by Churchill Downs. “I will tell you this is one of the most detailed plans that we have seen about specific security checks that everybody has to go through and be temperature-checked to masking to having a very limited group that is there.”

Horse racing officials and industry activists are hailing the passage and signing of a safety and integrity bill that will standardize medication and doping rules in an effort to make the sport safer and fairer. The bill gives an independent panel authority to set uniform, national medication, drug and track safety standards to be enforced by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. ”This is a monumental step forward that will help secure the future of thoroughbred racing in the United States,” New York Racing Association president and CEO Dave O’Rourke said.