The Derby will be Delayed

[Silver Charm]

2nd or 3rd Week in June. Announcement coming in a week

[RICH]

so, looking at the Belmont on july 11, week before Saratoga?

[jma11473]

I understand the desire to nail down a date for travel purposes, UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES, but any picking of dates of something a few months from now is pure wishful thinking.

[Dick Powell]

Why not the Belmont at Saratoga?

[BB]

Dick Powell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Why not the Belmont at Saratoga?

Well, you can\'t do 12 furlongs for one thing. Been more than a century since it was run at anything other than 12F.

[Dick Powell]

Great point but I think all bets are off this year.

[BB]

Dick Powell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great point but I think all bets are off this
> year.

That\'s for damn sure! If the Derby is on the first Saturday in September, Baffert will be using it as a prep for the BC Classic.

[toppled]

Since BB told us why not, just make the Travers the 3rd leg of the Triple Crown this year.  

Here\'s a thought: Say we get the worst case scenario & they can still race but with no fans in August.  Why even bother coming up to Saratoga if the fans can\'t get in?  Just stay downstate since we\'ll all be betting from home anyway. I imagine most of the horsemen would rather not uproot to Saratoga in order to race in front of an empty grandstand for 8 weeks.

[Silver Charm]

There will be a press conference tomorrow and now it seems it\'s being pushed back until September. With Keeneland canceling the entire meet anything scheduled to soon is more potential chaos I guess

Source tells LEX 18 that Derby could be postponed until later this year
https://www.lex18.com/sports/race-to-the-derby/source-tells-lex-18-that-derby-could-be-postponed-until-later-this-year

[Silver Charm]

NBC’s contractual commitment to Notre Dame leaves only two Saturdays between late August and early December when the network is not broadcasting Fighting Irish football: Sept. 5 and Oct. 24. Because the latter date falls only two weeks before the Breeders’ Cup is scheduled to be conducted at Keeneland, a tough turnaround for top 3-year-olds, the Sept. 5 date was always more logical and more likely.

[moosepalm]

Silver Charm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> NBC’s contractual commitment to Notre
> Dame leaves only two Saturdays between late
> August and early December when the network is not
> broadcasting Fighting Irish football: Sept. 5 and
> Oct. 24. Because the latter date falls only two
> weeks before the Breeders’ Cup is scheduled to
> be conducted at Keeneland, a tough turnaround for
> top 3-year-olds, the Sept. 5 date was always more
> logical and more likely.


NBC only broadcasts Notre Dame home games.  Why would that block out every Saturday in that span of time?  They have six home games in the coming season.

[TGJB]

https://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/news/2020/03/16/churchill-downs-postpones-the-kentucky-derby-heres.html?ana=yahoo&yptr=yahoo

[Silver Charm]

As far as my original probable date remember a few days ago Keeneland was going to run with no fans. Now there is NO Keeneland Meet. So clearly there have been a lot more thought put into the health situation occurring now.

As far as the CD Stock many sports and gaming stocks have been crushed. Penn Gaming which had Fan Duel went from $32 to $8 since there are literally no sports to bet on. Fanless Derby? Take my word many of the Big Checks for tickets are cut back in December. They sit on the Books as Deferred Revenue. Millions would have to be refunded. Analysts and Investors could have been concerned that Revenue and Cash would be lost. But no longer.....

[slewzapper]

Any thoughts as to qualifying criteria? New designated races? Spring colts placed in a bubble? Top summer colts excluded?

[milwmike]

No way this isn’t moved as well.