The postponements continue to pile up in the worst sports year of modern times.
The Kentucky Derby will be postponed from May 5 until September 5, according to multiple reports late Monday. The postponement, which will be officially announced Tuesday morning, will be the first for the race since World War II in 1945.
The Derby is the first race in horse racing’s Triple Crown, historically taking place on the first Saturday in May. It is usually followed by The Preakness Stakes two weeks later and The Belmont Stakes three weeks after that, though it was not immediately clear whether those races would move in concert with the Derby.
The postponement is due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, which has decimated the sports world. The NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball seasons have either been suspended or delayed, The Masters has been postponed indefinitely, and the NCAA basketball tournaments were canceled outright.
The Derby was one of the few events that was still scheduled for its original date. Another of the holdouts, the UFC, announced Monday that it is canceling its next three events.
Assuming that the pandemic does not wreak havoc on the fall sports schedule — not a safe assumption at this point — the Derby would compete with the opening weekend of the college football season.
[News from Louisville Courier-Journal 3.16]
