Racing Restrictions / Coronavirus

[Ted Craven]

Here is an article summarizing new restrictions on live attendance at racing around the US and the world. Many major tracks continue racing but without live attendance, i.e. watching and betting only online, the way most of us do it anyway.

https://www.paulickreport.com/news/t...g-to-continue/

Santa Anita, Golden Gate, Gulfstream, Aqueduct/NYRA, Keenland, Laurel, Turfway, Oaklawn, Fairmount, Sam Houston, Dubai - all open for racing but closed to live spectators. Surely most tracks will be added to this list as Spring racing comes on. Hong Kong has been running with no live attendance for nearly 2 months now.

I'm sure betting handle will be down noticeably. Hard to call whether the money in the pools will be 'smarter' or 'dumber' because of this.

Regarding our own annual gathering in Saratoga - Charlie B (gandalf) reminds me that tickets go on sale mid April, but who knows what world we'll be living in by then; it was a very different one just 2 weeks ago

Thus - as far as I can see, it's also entirely too early to make ANY kind of plan for the Summer at Saratoga. We just have to watch and wait.

And do our best to stay safe, stay isolated if we feel sick, have compassion for our friends and neighbours - and strangers - for the totally unexpected and often unfortunate circumstances they suddenly find themselves in.

Ted