Santa Anita Park will remain closed for live racing through at least the weekend, the track announced Tuesday, prompting the postponement of the GI Santa Anita Derby and GII Santa Anita Oaks, which where scheduled for this Saturday, Apr. 4, to an undetermined date later in the meet. Racing was halted at Santa Anita last Friday on orders of the Los Angeles County Health Department, which has closed all businesses deemed nonessential in response to t he COVID-19 pandemic.

There have been no known cases of COVID-19 at Santa Anita at this time. AAt Santa Anita Park, the health, safety and welfare of every person and every horse in our community remains our top priority, read a release from the track. AWe are continuing to have constructive dialogue with the LA County Health Department and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and her staff. In cooperation with our industry stake holders, a proposal was submitted earlier this week which we believe was fully responsive to their requests. We have yet to receive a satisfactory response to that proposal. Numerous racetracks around the country are continuing to operate. They are running for exactly the same reasons that Santa Anita is trying to communicate to LA County officials– because the consequences of closing down the economic engine that fuelsthe community makes the risks and potential issues significantly worse when racing is closed and only training allowed…

https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/pdf/tdn/tdn200401e.pdf