15 positives close Del Mar for weekend

The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club on Wednesday announced it has canceled its racing program this weekend after 15 jockeys tested positive for COVID-19.

Racing is expected to resume July 24, according to Joe Harper, Del Mar’s CEO.

All but one of the positive tests came from jockeys who rode at Los Alamitos over the July 4 weekend. All 15 jockeys are believed to be asymptomatic, Del Mar said.

“Assuming these individuals continue to show no symptoms, they will be isolated for a total of 10 days and should be able to resume their usual activities, including riding after that time,” Dr. Eric McDonald, medical director of Epidemiology & Immunizations Services for

San Diego County, said in a statement released by Del Mar.

Four riders on those Los Alamitos cards already had tested positive, including Del Mar regulars Flavien Prat and Victor Espinoza .A fifth, Umberto Rispoli, who won seven races on the opening weekend at Del Mar, tweeted Wednesday that he was positive as well.

Prat tested positive Sunday morning after returning from riding Saturday at Keeneland in Kentucky.

Del Mar last Sunday requested assistance from the San Diego County Health Department to test all jockeys and jockey room personnel who had been at Del Mar for the three days of racing last weekend. The testing of 27 jockeys was completed Tuesday and the results were reported Wednesday. Under COVID-19 reporting guidelines, Del Mar is not naming the jockeys besides Prat and Espinoza who tested positive.

The races scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday are expected to be run on Thursdays later in the nine-week meeting.

The weekend’s two major stakes races, the San Diego Handicap — featuring Maximum Security, last year’s disqualified Kentucky Derby winner — and Eddie Read Stakes,will be run Saturday, July 25.

Also Wednesday, Del Mar announced a new protocol that — until further notice — will prohibit any jockey who rides elsewhere during the meet to return to ride at the track. Other tracks across the country, including those in New York, Maryland and Ohio, have announced similar rules. — Bill Center

Baffert suspended

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert was ordered to serve a 15-day suspension by the Arkansas Racing Commission after two of his horses tested positive for an analgesic after running at Oaklawn Park on May 2. Suspensions are honored in all jurisdictions, so he would not be able to run in California or anywhere else between Aug. 1 and 15.

The 15-day suspension is the minimum penalty that the racing board could give a trainer found guilty of the infraction. Trainers are bound by the “trainer’s insurer rule” under which a trainer is ultimately responsible for everything about their horse, even if they are not physically present.

Baffert was not in Arkansas when Charlatan won the Arkansas Derby and Gamin won an allowance race. Both tested positive for lidocaine, a pain reliever that is legal in certain amounts.

The purse money earned by the horses in the Oaklawn races, $300,000 for Charlatan and $36,600 for Gamine, must be forfeited.

Charlatan since has suffered an injury and will not run in the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5. Gamine since has won the Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park and is on track to run in the Kentucky Oaks on Sept. 4.

Los Alamitos death

A second horse died at Los Alamitos since the track was placed on 10 days’ probation by the California Horse Racing Board because of a marked increase in fatalities. It was the fourth racing death this month in just five programs. There have been 10 who have died either racing or training since May 26, and 22 since the meeting began Dec. 27.

Alltime Favorite, a 2year-old quarter-horse gelding, was injured either at the end or immediately after a race Friday. He was not euthanized until Monday after efforts to save him failed. Tacy was pulled up with injuries during a race Sunday and later euthanized.

The CHRB called an emergency meeting last Friday to address the rise in deaths. Vice-chairman Oscar Gonzales suggested putting a pause on racing this past weekend, but there was not enough sentiment on the board to do that and instead the track was put on probation. The CHRB will have a meeting today but Los Alamitos is not on the agenda. It will be discussed at a special meeting Monday. — John Cherwa