Keeneland cancels spring meet

Keeneland Race Course on Monday announced the entire cancellation of their spring meet, which was to be held April 2-24, due to health and safety concerns surrounding the outbreak of COVID-19.

In a statement, Keeneland said "the decision was made following a guidance announcement issued Sunday by the Center for Disease Control, which warned against holding large events and mass gatherings that include 'conferences, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events, weddings and other types of assemblies.' Specifically, the CDC recommended that events attended by 50 people or more should be canceled or postponed for the next eight weeks."

"During the past several weeks, we have exhausted all avenues for safely conducting our spring meet," said Keeneland President and CEO Bill Thomason. "Since the beginning of this pandemic, we have diligently worked with local, state and national partners in health and government to ensure our actions are the most responsible we can take. We all find ourselves in uncharted territory, but nothing is more important to Keeneland than protecting the health and safety of our athletes, stable employees, horsemen, patrons, track employees and the community at large."

This is the first time time racing will not be held during the spring at Keeneland since the World War II era, when wartime travel restrictions forced the meet's dates to be run at Churchill Downs for several years.