The crown jewel of competitive horse racing will be run without fans this year.
Churchill Downs officials said they determined it is best to run this year’s Kentucky Derby in an empty stadium, they announced Friday.
“Churchill Downs has worked diligently over the last several months to plan a safe derby with a limited number of spectators in attendance,” Churchill Downs Racetrack President Kevin Flanery said. “We were confident in that plan but dedicated to remaining flexible using the best and most reliable information available.”
There had been hope that the derby, which historically takes place in the spring season, would be run with limited capacity on Sept. 1, but Flanery said the potential health risks were too dire to overlook.
“With the current significant increases in COVID-19 cases in Louisville as well as across the region, we needed to again revisit our planning,” Flanery said.
Flanery added that the past few months have presented challenges every day that have made planning the event an extended ordeal.
“That’s the reality that we’ve been dealing with during this pandemic,” he said. “It really has been something that a day feels like a week in many instances. Things change, and they change rapidly, and we have to react to them.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear hailed the decision as the “right and responsible” thing to do.
