Horse racing industry hopes return brings lifeline

Instead of the Preakness running May 16 in Baltimore with perhaps another heralded Kentucky Derby winner looking to capture the second jewel of the Triple Crown, horse racing is in the midst of transition.

And lower and middle class owners are in the cross hairs. Owner Maggi Moss was concerned about the fate of the little guys before the coronavirus derailed the sport. Now, she worries her fears have become a reality.

“We have an industry that’s going to come back looking very different,” Moss said. “Maybe I’m wrong, but there’s many people that can’t afford this anymore.”

Though all is not lost. Not yet. While a vast majority of North American thoroughbred tracks remain dark, Churchill Downs and Santa Anita Park are set to resume racing without fans without fans and others are set to follow in what could be a lifeline for owners and trainers with smaller barns who have been suffering without steady income.

“We’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, hopefully,” Maryland-based owner and trainer Linda Gaudet said from Louisville, Kentucky, where she’s preparing for racing to return Saturday at Churchill Downs. “The owners and the trainers and the riders, they need to get back to work, make a living.”

A mix of government restrictions and positive COVID-19 results stopped racing in Kentucky, Maryland, New York, California and elsewhere in March, and Gaudet said “it’s been a long two months.” Racing without fans continued only at a handful of tracks, including Florida’s Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs and Arkansas’ Oaklawn Park.

Trainer Norm Casse recently said from Florida that as long as some tracks are running, he’s able to keep his operation going.

“I don’t think there’s probably an industry in the country that’s not affected by this in some way, shape or form,” Norm Casse said. “You take comfort in the fact that you know you’re not alone, that everybody’s going to be making sacrifices. Everybody probably stands to lose a little something from all of this and just be grateful to be in the position we were in to begin with.”

Some are in better position than others. Deep-pocketed owners and big-time trainers like two-time Triple Crown winner Bob Baffert can handle the reduction in racing. It’s more concerning for the small businesses throughout the industry, from owners and trainers to jockeys, grooms and other employees.

“Those businesses don’t have the financial flexibility, perhaps the cash reserves, to weather this storm for longer than a month or two,” National Thoroughbred Racing Association president and CEO Alex Waldrop said.