In the wake of the Ontario Government announcing the slight loosening of COVID-19 protocols, Woodbine Entertainment CEO Jim Lawson has been cited as conveying that he is cautiously optimistic that live horse racing could return without fans as early as June.

"The big proviso is we don't want to get ahead of ourselves, governmental and health authorities because that's the wrong thing to do," Lawson has been quoted as saying in an article that has been published on TSN.ca. "But I do think if restrictions are eased, we've shown and exhibited already we're capable of doing this.

"Not only did live racing occur at [Woodbine Mohawk Park] without gatherings, but with what we've achieved in our backstretch (at Woodbine Racetrack) the last two months, we feel comfortable we can conduct safe racing. And when you combine safe racing with 15,000-20,000 people whose livelihoods really depend on this, we feel we're a good model to help kick-start the economy."

In the article, Lawson spoke specifically about some social distancing measures that are planned for Mohawk and Woodbine when the return to racing ultimately occurs.

"I think one key factor is that in starting, the additional personnel required is minimal, including for example the potential use of remote judges... all we really need to do is bring jockeys on and we're already physically making construction changes to our jockeys' room like in/out doors and separate cubicles. On the Standardbred side, we're ordering trailers to have physical distancing amongst the drivers."

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

(With files from TSN.ca.)