Derby Officials 'Keen' on Rescheduled Chelmsford Race

Talks between Chelmsford and Churchill Downs are ongoing as the Essex all-weather track hopes to reschedule its qualifier for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and boost opportunities for European runners to feature in America's biggest race.

The COVID-19 pandemic has wiped out both the qualifying meeting at Chelmsford in early April and the American classic. But with the Kentucky Derby rescheduled for Sept. 5, the race's officials are "very keen" for Chelmsford to provide a steppingstone in Europe a month before.

Runners in the Kentucky Derby are selected on a points-based system, with the top 20 scorers allowed to run. The news of interest in European runners is a timely boost at a time of uncertainty surrounding international travel due to the ongoing global crisis.

The first running of the Cardinal Stakes at Chelmsford last year was won by Bye Bye Hong Kong, who did not go to America, but the race did feature the first horses trained by Aidan O'Brien to visit the course.

"I've been in contact with the guys at Churchill Downs, and they're still very keen for us to have a final European qualifier," said Fraser Garrity, the racecourse manager at Chelmsford. "We're looking at July or August for that, but it's still early days. That'd be a mile conditions race, which would come a month or so before the Kentucky Derby."

He added: "There's been so much disruption now, it might be that this race is a fixed point in time that people can aim for. It might well be that, by that twist of unhappy fate, the race ends up being more attractive to trainers that have the right sort of horse and can target it accordingly."

Of the seven races in the Road to the Kentucky Derby series, only three are staged in the same season, with the Churchill Downs Classic staged in May. Two of those, at Kempton and Dundalk, have already been run.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic has hit Chelmsford hard, according to Garrity. The course, reopened in 2015, has furloughed members of staff, but ambitious plans to open a new turf track in the autumn are subject to funding from the Levy Board.

"We've been hit hard but like so many courses," Garrity said. "We take a financial hit on all the fixtures lost, and we've had six lost in April. We've used the job retention scheme, so quite a lot of the team are on furlough at the moment, but we're making sure that everything is looking spot on for the resumption of racing.

"Our clerk of the course, Andy (Waitt), along with our grounds manager, Jamie (Waitt), have been working on (the track) and continue to. But part of the master plan is to use the Levy Board loan, but we're currently waiting patiently to find out where we've got to on that.

"There are so many more major issues and considerations all coming together at once, so we'll just wait. We're doing all that we can do at the moment."