Cal Expo has announced that the current meet at the track has come to an official end due to an extension of the emergency order relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are very sorry to inform our horseman and employees that our current meet has officially come to a end,” a statement from the track has explained. “Today (Tuesday, April 7) we had discussions with the Sacramento County Health Department about possibly re-opening. The county's emergency order that was scheduled to expire tonight (April 7) will be extended through May 1. Racing closed to the public is not exempt from the order.”
Standardbreds pictured at Cal Expo in Sacramento, California.
Cal Expo was the last track in North America offering live pari-mutuel harness racing after all others had ceased due to COVID-19. Late last month, Trot Insider presented an exclusive story on Cal Expo’s ability to continue racing through the trying time. To read the story, click here.
“Our barn area will remain open,” Cal Expo’s April 7 announcement stated. “The main track will be open Monday through Friday. At this time we can assure horseman that the barn area will be open through May 15. We have published additional guidelines to comply with all social distancing mandates.”
Cal Expo also stated that its full intention is to re-open this coming fall.
(With files from Cal Expo)
With Cal Expo being forced to
With Cal Expo being forced to prematurely end its Spring meet and no other tracks hoping to reopen before May, April 2020 will go down in history as the first time that you were unable to watch and wager on a harness race held in North America for an entire month. Sad.