Kentucky Derby, French Open moved to September

Kentucky Derby, French Open moved to September

SFGate

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Change does not come easily to the Kentucky Derby.

Fans sip mint juleps, don fancy hats and dress clothes and sing to the melancholy strains of “My Old Kentucky Home” as the thoroughbreds step onto the track on the first Saturday in May. It has always made the Derby as much a piece of Americana as a horse race.

The country’s longest continuously held sports event thrives on this tradition, especially its date on the calendar.

That changed Tuesday. Churchill Downs postponed the Derby until September, the latest rite of spring in sports to be struck by the new coronavirus along with the Masters, March Madness and baseball season. Instead of May 2, the race will be run Sept. 5, kicking off Labor Day weekend.

“It’s good that they didn’t cancel it,” said Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who has several top contenders that could earn him a record-tying sixth Derby victory.

However, Baffert added, “Until they get their arms around this virus, we’re all day-to-day”

It’s the first time the Derby won’t be held on the first Saturday in May since 1945, when it was run June 9. The federal government suspended horse racing nationwide for most of the first half of the year before World War II ended in early May.

“We’ll roll with the punches,” Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs Inc. said during a conference call, “and feel very, very good that September is the right date.”

Still to be decided are the dates of the next two legs of horse racing’s showcase series — the Preakness and Belmont.

*French Open moved back four months:* The French tennis federation postponed the French Open was postponed for about four months, shifting from May to September and juggling the tennis calendar.

The French tennis federation said it will hold its 15-day...

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