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View Winners → Santa Anita Race Track Closed by County Health Officials
Arcadia Weekly Mar 31, 2020
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After holding discussions with Los Angeles County officials lastFriday, Santa Anita’s storied race track has ceased racing effective Fridaybecause of the coronavirus outbreak.
The track made the announcement in a statement texted to horsemenat 12:25 p.m. Friday, less than an hour before the day’s first race.
In accordance with instructions received from Los Angeles County Health Department, Santa Anita Park has “temporarily closed” for live racing effective immediately, the track said Friday.
Santa Anita Park was slated for a three-day racing week throughthis past Sunday. One of its major races, the Santa Anita Derby (G1), was setfor April 4.
Santa Anita Park will remain closed for live racing through thisweekend as it abides by the order issued last week from the Los Angeles CountyHealth Department as it relates to essential businesses. At this time, thereare no known cases of COVID-19 at Santa Anita Park.
The prestigious Santa Anita Derby and Santa Anita Oaks, which wereset to headline the racing program on Saturday, April 4, will be rescheduledfor later in the season after racing resumes.
“At Santa Anita Park, the health, safety and welfare of everyperson and every horse in our community remains our top priority. We arecontinuing to have constructive dialogue with the LA County Health Departmentand Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and her staff. Incooperation with our industry stake holders, a proposal was submitted earlierthis week which we believe was fully responsive to their requests. Wehave yet to receive a satisfactory response to that proposal,” read a statementfrom Santa Anita Park.
Numerous racetracks around the country are continuing to operateand Santa Anita is pushing back against L.A. County guidelines. “They arerunning for exactly the same reasons that Santa Anita is trying to communicateto L.A. County officials — because the consequences of closing down theeconomic engine that fuels the community makes the risks and potential issuessignificantly worse when racing is closed and only training allowed.”
There are over 1,700 horses stabled at Santa Anita who requiredaily care provided by more than 750 backstretch team members. According toSanta Anita, “Most of these team members live on-site and have been operatingunder stringent new measures for protection aligned with the best guidance fromlocal and international health and government authorities on COVID-19.”
The track has been closed to the general public and closed to allbut essential personnel since March 12, 2020.
