There will be no fans in attendance when the 152nd Saratoga Race Course meet opens on Thursday because of New York state COVID-19 restrictions, and the New York Racing Association has implemented a new policy that closes the track to out-of-town riders and will bar Saratoga jockeys from returning if they ship out to race somewhere else.
It should create some interesting dilemmas for riders whose best horses run out of town, whether that town, for them, is Saratoga or somewhere else, especially if other tracks follow suit and impose their own lock downs.
For example, this means that Hall of Famer Mike Smith, based in California, won't be on champion Midnight Bisou if she runs in the Personal Ensign, as intended, on Aug. 1.
Irad Ortiz, Jr.'s agent, Steve Rushing, told the Daily Racing Form that Ortiz would surrender the mount on Dr Post, runner-up to Tiz the Law in the Belmont Stakes, in Saturday's Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.
Last week, Hall of Famer Victor Espinoza, New York-based Luis Saez, Florent Geroux and Martin Garcia announced that they had tested positive.
Any jockey that rides at a racetrack outside of Saratoga beginning Thursday will be considered an out-of-town jockey and will not be permitted at Saratoga.
This info is courtesy of the Daily Gazette.
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