Santa Anita Park will temporarily close for live racing, effective immediately, in accordance with orders from the Los Angeles County Health Department in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, the operators of the Arcadia racetrack announced Friday.
The announcement came shortly before the first of the day’s eight races was scheduled to be run, with track officials apologizing in a written statement for the late notice.
The track had been closed to the public and all but essential personnel since March 12 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but had still been running races. The track had vowed that all profits from racing would go toward a charity or multiple charities supporting coronavirus relief efforts in the community.
No known cases of coronavirus have been reported at the track, where 750 backstretch workers provide care for more than 1,700 horses stabled there, according to a statement released by Santa Anita Park.
The backstretch workers — most of whom live on-site — have been operating under stringent new measures for protection against the coronavirus, according to the track.
Track officials said they look forward to resuming live racing at the track as soon as approval is received from local regulators.