Churchill Downs will allow 23,000 fans at 2020 Kentucky Derby, shuts down infield



Churchill Downs officials announced Wednesday a 62-page operations plan that will limit attendance for the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby to under 23,000 guests. The plan includes no general admission, and the infield will be closed. Prepurchased general admission tickets will be refunded. Reserved seating will be limited to a maximum of 40% occupancy, and standing-room-only tickets have been eliminated.

Churchill Downs officials announced Wednesday a 62-page operations plan that will limit attendance for the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby to under 23,000 guests.

The plan includes no general admission, and the infield will be closed. Prepurchased general admission tickets will be refunded. Reserved seating will be limited to a maximum of 40% occupancy, and standing-room-only tickets have been eliminated.

A crowd of 23,000 would be about 13.5% of the record 170,513 that attended the Kentucky Derby in 2015. It would still be one of the largest crowds for a sporting event in the United States since sports began shutting down in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A crowd of 30,000 fans was allowed at a NASCAR race on July 15 in Bristol, Tennessee. 

The protocols will be in effect for all five days of the Sept. 1-5 racing meet at Churchill Downs, including Kentucky Oaks Day on Sept. 4.

"Reducing the size of the crowd is an important step to ensuring a safe environment,” Churchill Downs Racetrack President Kevin Flanery said in a news release. “Medical best practices and protocols — many of which we have applied in consultation with experts both inside and outside the sports industry — will be implemented, and we’ll make adjustments all the way up to Derby Day as we find ways to improve and continue to adhere to ever-evolving best practices."

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Gov. Andy Beshear said his office will continue to communicate with Churchill Downs officials and expects the limit on fans to ultimately decrease.

“I believe that their numbers and capacity will fall even further before Derby Day, that they will be under 15% of their facility," Beshear said. "I know that they’re moving people, too. If it’s just folks with the premium seats that have said yes, they’re going to move them apart as well. That was a commitment that was expressed to me, and that will probably decrease capacity even more. 

"... This only works there if they enforce the everybody-wears-a-mask rule." 

Beshear noted that the Louisville City FC soccer team has been playing at Lynn Family Stadium with a limit of about 30% capacity, or around 4,800 fans. 

"I think — just like Lynn Family Stadium seems to be operating safely — that (Churchill Downs) can, too," Beshear said. 

Churchill said temperature checks, medical questionnaires, physical distancing and mandatory face coverings will be required upon entrance. Each guest will receive a courtesy “Healthy at the Track” bag, which will include a disposable mask, a pocket-sized hand sanitizer and a personal stylus for no-contact self-service wagering.

Other details from the plan:

Anyone with a temperature above 100 degrees will be prohibited from entering the facility.
More than 500 hand-sanitizing stations will be placed throughout the facility.
Pari-mutuel tellers will be properly spaced and provided personal protective equipment for betting transactions. Guests are encouraged to wager online through TwinSpires.com.
Concession stands will be limited mostly to prepackaged foods. Plated meals and meal packages from preset menus will be served in other locations.
Guest shuttles from off-site parking locations are being eliminated, and guests are encouraged to utilize neighborhood-parking options. Refunds will be made to all ticket holders who had off-site parking included with a reserved seat.  
Dawn at the Downs, the annual event to dine while observing morning workouts, has been moved to Aug. 31 and will be limited to guests with reserved seats. There will be no free general admission. 
The stable area will be restricted to essential personnel. Guests and parties in the stable area for morning workouts and during race days will be prohibited.

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Churchill Downs said offenders will receive a warning and repeat offenders will be escorted from the property.

“The opportunity to safely welcome back a limited number of guests to Churchill Downs on the first week of September is a privilege that our team doesn’t take for granted,” Flanery said. “Our extensive plan meets or exceeds all recommended state and local guidelines. We’ve received an exceptional level of support from regulators, medical experts and public health authorities, and we’ll continue to carefully work with them to ensure we’re doing everything we can to keep our customers, employees and communities safe.”

Churchill said the health and safety operations plan was developed over the past four months “in close collaboration with public health experts and other relevant stakeholders. Advice and counsel from the Louisville Metro Health Department along with key elements of Kentucky’s Healthy at Work guidance are incorporated throughout the document.”

The complete plan can be viewed at KentuckyDerby.com.

“Louisville is fortunate to have America’s longest continuously held sporting event and the brand awareness associated with this grand tradition," said Karen Williams, president and CEO of Louisville Tourism. "In these disruptive times, it is a bonus to learn that Churchill will be able to safely host a reduced capacity of fans. The hospitality industry represented 60,000 metro area workers pre-COVID, and this is welcome news to realizing some economic impact from what is annually Louisville’s largest tourism generator." 

Churchill Downs officials announced March 17 that the 146th Kentucky Derby would be postponed from May 2 to Sept. 5 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they were confident the delay would allow fans to attend.

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“We feel confident that we are going to run the Kentucky Derby and we are going to run it with a crowd,” Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen said in March. “The Kentucky Derby is a participatory event. Its energy and its magic really comes from everyone participating and being there to enjoy it. We’re going to make it happen.”

In June, Beshear announced Churchill Downs had submitted a plan that called for limited attendance, including up to 24,268 people in the infield on Derby Day. The 27-page document included plans to slash general admissions by up to 61% compared with 2019 and reduce outdoor seating by 57%. Some dining areas would have been cut to 33% capacity.

Churchill Downs reported July 29 that its net revenue declined $162.9 million overall when compared with last year’s second quarter, which included a $13.5 million hit from suspending operations at Derby City Gaming, its historical racing machine center on Poplar Level Road in Louisville. 

The Kentucky Derby has been held every year since 1875 and has been staged on the first Saturday in May every year since 1946. The 1945 Derby was held on June 9 because of World War II.

Last year’s attendance was 150,729. The Kentucky Oaks record crowd of 124,589 was set in 2016, and last year’s Oaks attendance was 105,719.

Rampant speculation about the fate of the Kentucky Derby began in earnest when Beshear announced on Aug. 6 that the 2020 Kentucky State Fair would be closed to the public. 

State Fair Board Chairman Steve Wilson said it's "impossible to enforce social distancing" at a normal fair and canceling the event for the public was the "proper" thing to do.

Dr. Steven Stack, the state's public health commissioner, applauded the board's decision to limit the State Fair to participants only. "I think they did the safe thing. I think they rose to the challenge for the greater good," he said. 

All three Triple Crown races were rescheduled this year because of the pandemic. Tiz the Law won the Belmont on June 20, two weeks after its originally scheduled date. The Preakness was postponed from May 16 to Oct. 3, making it the last leg of this year’s Triple Crown schedule.

Reporter Kirby Adams contributed to this report. Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @KentuckyDerbyCJ. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/jasonf.

This article is a reprint from Courrier-Journal.com. To view the original story and comment, click here


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