And it's off!
The Kentucky Derby will be postponed to Sept. 5 this year over the growing COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., race officials announced Tuesday. This marks the first time the race has been postponed since 1945, and the first time it hasn't been run on the first Saturday in May since then as well.
The derby is the latest sport to fall to the coronavirus cancellation spree — the MLB, NHL, and nearly every soccer league in the world have called off games, to name a few. The Kentucky Oaks, a race for 3-year-old fillies run the day before the Derby, will be postponed until Sept. 4 as well. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission still has to approve the changes, and is expected to do so on Thursday.
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It's still unclear if the Belmont Stakes and the Preakness Stakes — the next two races in the Triple Crown — will be postponed as well. "We gave [Preakness and Belmont officials] a heads up as we got close to finalizing an arrangement with our NBC partners. They were receptive," Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen told reporters on Tuesday. The New York Racing Authority, which runs the Belmont, ensured in a Tuesday statement it would hold the race this year but is still working "to make a determination about the timing." Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) also said talks were ongoing about rescheduling the Preakness.
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