legendary Kentucky Derby has postponed its scheduled

It is now post time, the horses are moving into the racing chute, the gates are down, and they are not off, not off and not running until September.

This is the Kentucky Derby, the longest running sports event in the country. It is sometimes dobbed “the run.”

And since 1875, it has been raced at Churchill Downs in Louisville the first Saturday of May. That was the choice made by a small group of track officials and it’s never changed except for now.

This time the worldwide threat of new coronavirus pandemic has moved the first leg of the Triple Crown to September 5.

Those that, as usual, have made or would have made their plans for the May 1stKentucky Oaks and the Derby the next day, may not like it, but Churchill Downs is just going along with the tide and closing down like other sports events.

In 1945, the track almost didn’t have a choice. That year, the race was staged over a month past its traditional date on the spring calendar. The reason was because in January of that year, horse racing was banned nationwide because the government thought those working in track operations and those that gamble on racing, should be serving in the more important war.

But when Germany joined Japan and surrendered on May 7th to end World War II, the ban on racing was lifted and the Derby was run on June 9th and attended by 75,000, wagered a Derby-day record $2,380,796 that included the Derby itself with a record $776,408 waged. That day, the Derby was won over a muddy track with future Hall of Famer Eddie Arcaro on Hoop Junior, which won by six lengths over a field of 15 entries.

The only time the Derby was not run in May was in 1901 when it occurred on April 29th.But through the many years, dates have been temporarily unchanged, but the race has never been interrupted.

The Kentucky Derby is held two weeks before the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico race track in Baltimore, Md., and the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, N.Y., runs three weeks after the Preakness.

But the current plans of the Belmont andPreakness are unclear at this time, although the Preakness is now considering to also postpone its May 16th date and to reschedule the 145th running of the Preakness Stakes. The Belmont, which runs on June 8th, has not announced anything regarding the 152nd running of its Stakes.

While Preakness Racetrack looks its age and needs some grooming, maintenance, paint, and security to keep the neighborhood kids off the grounds. It’s the oldest and the smallest of the three Triple Crown sites, and in 2015, it installed a new outside, more modern, look.

Belmont race track is right in the middle of a huge mall being built as well as the new arena for the new home of the NHL New York Islanders, who spent this season playing half their games at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, their original home. But getting back to Belmont race track, at least in the year 2000 it put in new grandstand and club seats.

But at Churchill Downs in Louisville, the site is cared for like no other race track. That’s the inside and the outside of the facility. The seats are always checked, cleaned. The track itself is well groomed, spic-and-span ready to be raced on, that is unless heavy rains fall that day.

With all this preparation, this postponement is unprecedented, never before happening to the Downs, where the great Secretariat, in 1973, won the 95th running of the Derby by 3 lengths in the record time of 1:59.40 for the one and one-quarter mile distance that is also 10 furlongs. It’s America’s race for 3-year-old thoroughbreds, the greatest two minutes watched by a horse racing nation, and there were 134,476 in attendance that day.

This was the first of his Triple Crown sweep. And after he won the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico also by 3 lengths, three weeks later Secretariat was going for the triple at Belmont. Forget the previous 3 lengths he won by, this time he came out of last place, picked off one horse at a time, and after dueling with his chief rival, Sham, he took off on the final furlong and just kept increasing his lead until he finished 31 lengths ahead of runner-up Sham, and he sped the last furlong in 23 seconds.

Getting back to the Kentucky Derby, it has been through the Great Depression, World War I and World War II and other turmoil, but never closed down. But time has gone by, and the coronavirus pandemic has wrecked havoc with the world’s sports calendar and the Kentucky Derby felt it was necessary to do the same.

There was no word on whether this change in dates and seasons will affect the racing industry. Some employees will still be at Churchill Downs and have been informed of precautions like staying too close to others, being careful of what you touch, to avoid shaking hands, to avoid hugging, to avoid smooching, and wearing light gloves is optional.

The women will still be wearing southern belle hats, the men anything that says Kentucky Derby, They will still be drinking mint juleps. They will still be smoking expensive cigars. But hopefully, in four months their big day will arrive. Singing “My Old Kentucky Home” will go on, albeit on Labor Day weekend.

There can be no argument here. What had to be done was done, and hopefully the legendary Derby will run in September, and that would be fine. Heck, it would have been terrible if we didn’t have a Kentucky Derby at all.

This year’s postponement will require changes to the points system used to decide the 20-horse field for the Derby. More qualifying races at tracks around the country will be added this summer. Trainers will need to adjust training and racing schedules for their hopefuls. Mainly, the thing is to keep the horses healthy and remember that horse racing grapples with risks and that this is all about health and safety in the United States of America.