Del Mar has canceled racing for the weekend after 15
jockeys tested positive for COVID-19.
All the track’s riders and personnel who work in the
jockeys’ room were tested by San Diego County public health officials at the a request of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.
Of the 15 positive tests, all were believed to be
asymptomatic and contact tracing procedures are underway.
All but one of the riders who tested positive rode at the
recent Los Alamitos meet in Orange County.
The mass testing was ordered by the track after jockeys
Flavien Prat and Victor Espinoza tested positive. They are both quarantining at
home.
The track isn’t identifying any of the other riders.
However, some have confirmed their own cases.
Leading jockey Umberto Rispoli, who won seven races last
weekend at Del Mar, tweeted on Wednesday that he was positive, too, and was in
quarantine.
“I’m feeling more than well,” he posted, adding that he was
asymptomatic.
The seaside track located north of San Diego opened its
popular summer meet on July 10 without spectators.
It races on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Labor
Day.
Racing is expected to resume on July 24.
The card on Saturday was to feature Maximum Security in the
$US150,000 San Diego Handicap.
Last year, he became the first horse disqualified in
Kentucky Derby history after crossing the finish line first.
Now trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Maximum Security
was to be ridden by Luis Saez.
However, the jockey tested positive for COVID-19 last
weekend at Keeneland in Kentucky.
As a result, Baffert had named Abel Cedillo as the
replacement rider.
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