As NFL reopens facilities, Giants and Jets stay on hold
Horse racing’s Triple Crown will look different this year from start to finish.
The Belmont Stakes will be run before the Kentucky Derby and Preakness for the first time and take place at a shorter distance. It will lead off the Triple Crown on June 20 with no fans and at a distance of 1 1/8 miles instead of the 1 1/2-mile “test of the champion” that has been the race’s trademark for nearly a century.
“The way it fits in the calendar, it’s a completely different race than the traditional Belmont would be,” New York Racing Association president and CEO Dave O’Rourke said Tuesday. “I think we’re going to have a big field. I think it’ll be a really competitive field. I think the dynamics of the race are different.”
The three Triple Crown races will be run out of their traditional order for the first time since 1931. The Kentucky Derby was moved from May 2 to Sept. 5 and the Preakness from May 16 to Oct. 3 amid the coronavirus pandemic that
The NFL has given teams permission to reopen their facilities as long as they have approval from state and local governments to do so. This is the first step teams are allowed to take as the NFL tries to get the season started in a safe manner during the coronavirus pandemic.
So far, only four teams have attempted to get back into their has upended the sports calendar.
“I’m just happy we get to run,“two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer Bob Baffert said. “I’m just fortunate that they didn’t cancel any of them. A couple months ago, it didn’t look good.”
An out-of-order Triple Crown presents another set of challenges and would be a different kind of accomplishment than the one competed by the 13 past champions. The Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont are usually run during a six-week span in the spring, and 3-year-olds are more mature by the summer and fall.
“It’s going to help some, it’s going to hurt others,” trainer Mark Casse said. “You’re going to see a lot stronger, probably a bigger, stronger horse from May.”
The Belmont is only being run two weeks after it was scheduled, but the shorter distance changes the complexion of the race and the Triple Crown. It has been run at 1 1/2 miles each year dating to 1926 and last ran at 1 1/8 miles in 1894. facilities: The Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts. The Jacksonville Jaguars have set May 26 as their return date. The Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers chose not to reopen.
Since teams have to be in compliance with their local governments, not every team is going to be able to get back into its facilities. The Giants and Jets currently do not seem to have a feasible path toward getting back into their training facilities in the next week.
The Colts released a statement saying they’ve been preparing to reopen.
“It will be very gradual and deliberate,” the statement said. “And of course we’re taking steps to make sure we’re in compliance with state and local regulations, and NFL and CDC guidelines.”
Atlanta Falcons CEO and president Rich McKay participated in a virtual press conference with reporters from the Falcons’ training facility in Flowery Branch, Georgia on Tuesday. “There’s one entrance to come in and out of. There’s all the social distancing to be complied with,” McKay explained. “Everyone’s temperature is checked at the door and you’re asked a series of questions. Everyone must put gloves on and wear a mask the whole time unless they’re alone in a closed office. We don’t have the cafeteria open. We don’t have the team meeting rooms open.”
McKay also noted that the Falcons have only 15 employees at the facility right now, but they will slowly increase that total over the coming weeks. Georgia’s government has taken steps to reopen the state, which is why the Falcons are able to open their training facility incrementally.