All Racing in New York State Essentially Halted by Governor’s Restrictions Due to Coronavirus

Story By: JOHN DOUGLAS / RPW – ALBANY, NY – As event organizers and government officials work together to make plans for how to deal with the Coronavirus outbreak, the effects on local racing in the Empire State look to be substantial.

Governor Cuomo announced earlier today that restrictions will be placed on all public gatherings in the State of New York.

In a statement released on social media, the governor stated:

We are taking new actions to reduce the density of people across the state.

Starting Friday at 5pm, gatherings with 500 people or more will not be permitted in NYS.

Additionally, for facilities with an occupancy of 500 or fewer, we are reducing the legal capacity by 50%.

— Archive: Governor Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 12, 2020

This will hit the racing community especially hard as racing occurs Fri-Sun with special events run on weeknights across pavement and dirt disciplines alike. There was no timeframe given for the length of the ban on large public gatherings.