Dennis Romero
SAN DIEGO– Fifteen jockeys at the Del Mar horse racing track in San Diego County evaluated favorable for the coronavirus Wednesday, track and health authorities stated.
The break out triggered Del Mar Thoroughbred Club to cancel racing till July 24, it said in a declaration. The club connected it to Triple Crown winner Victor Espinoza and Kentucky Derby winner Flavien Prat, both of whom evaluated positive after riding at Los Alamitos in Orange County.
Dr. Eric McDonald, director of public health and immunizations for San Diego County, confirmed at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that jockeys in Orange County appear to have spread the virus.
” Indeed, if youre familiar with the history, there were a pair of jockeys that were determined the previous weekend who had previously been in Orange County, together with 3 other jockeys that remained in Orange County however then went to other venues,” he said. “They were subsequently diagnosed with COVID.”
The 15 Del Mar jockeys were not showing symptoms and, pending recovery, were expected to be back on the track in about 10 days, track authorities said.
Del Mar Thoroughbred Club stated agreement tracing was underway to see whether more positive cases were linked to the 15 jockeys.
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NBC San Diego reported that a third jockey who had ridden at Los Alamitos during the Fourth of July weekend, Martin Garcia, likewise checked positive.
” We can fairly expect that there will be some additional positive tests,” Dr. Ghazala Sharieff, chief medical officer at San Diegos Scripps Health, stated in a declaration.
The satisfy begun Friday and was arranged through Sept. 7. The season at Del Mar is fan-free, with only important personnel enabled on and near the track.
For its late-July resuming, Del Mar is restricting racing to California jockeys only.
Espinoza resides in San Diego County and has long been related to Del Mar.
” A common element among all but among the riders that tested positive is that they rode at the just recently concluded Los Alamitos satisfy,” the club said. “Del Mar authorities ordered the screening of all the jockeys and jockeys space workers after two riders, Flavien Prat and Victor Espinoza, checked positive for COVID-19.”
Dennis Romero composes for NBC News and is based in Los Angeles.
