Racing is set to resume at Del Mar Friday after three racing dates were canceled because 15 jockeys tested positive for the coronavirus.
Jockeys Victor Espinoza, Eduard Kennis Rojas Fernandez, Flavien Prat and Eduard Kennis Rojas Fernandez were among those who tested positive. Umberto Rispoli, who won three races on opening day at Del Mar, said in a tweet that he tested positive although he did not show any symptoms.
Del Mar requires all riders traveling from other jurisdictions to be tested prior to being able to ride at the track, a protocol that Del Mar Thoroughbred Club CEO Joe Harper said worked to catch cases of COVID-19.
The DMTC responded to the positive tests that wiped out racing from July 17-19 by instituting new travel restrictions to include only permitting jockeys based in California to ride and prohibiting all jockeys who leave the track to ride elsewhere from returning to Del Mar for the remainder of the summer racing season.
Del Mar also re-configured and expanded its jockeys' quarters, including moving some of the functions that normally take place in the jockeys'
room to an adjacent area.
Racing will be held Monday to make up for one of the canceled days.
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The other two lost days will be made up later in the season, on dates to be
determined, said Tom Robbins, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club executive vice president for racing.
Many of the races that had been scheduled for last weekend have been shifted to this weekend. The Grade II $150,000 San Diego Handicap will be run Saturday and the Grade II $200,000 Eddie Read Stakes Sunday.
Maximum Security, the 2019 male 3-year-old Eclipse Award winner best remembered for being disqualified for interference after crossing the finish
line first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby, is the even-money favorite in the San
Diego Handicap.
