The Washington Post - 21.03.2020

C10 eZ re THE WASHINGTON POST.SATURDAy, MARCH 21 , 2020

JoNATHAN NewToN/THe wAsHINgToN posT

Laurel Park, above, halted racing indefinitely by order of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, but many tracks across the United States continue to operate during the pandemic.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Terps forward Smith

is AP third-team pick

Maryland sophomore forward
Jalen Smith was named a third-
team all-American on Friday by
the Associated Press, adding to
his list of end-of-season
accolades. Smith also earned
third-team honors from CBS
Sports, Sports Illustrated and
Sporting News.
Smith is the first Te rrapin
honored by the AP since 2010,
when Greivis Vasquez was
selected for the second team.
Smith averaged 15.5 points,
10.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per
game this season, helping lead the
Te rrapins to their first conference
title since 2010. Maryland shared
the Big Te n regular season crown
with Wisconsin and Michigan.

T he 6-foot-10 Baltimore native

scored 20 or more points four

times and had 21 double-doubles

this season.

Obi Toppin (Dayton), Luka

Garza (Iowa, via Maret), Markus

Howard (Marquette), Myles

Powell (Seton Hall) and Payton

Pritchard (Oregon) made the

first team.

— Emily Giambalvo

Starting forward Shakira

Austin is transferring from

Maryland, leaving the Terrapins

with just one returning starter

next season. T he 6-5 Austin, who

most often played as a true center,

is the second player on the

women’s team to e nter the

transfer portal this week after

fellow sophomore center Olivia

Owens announced her decision

Wednesday.

Austin a veraged 12 points and

6.8 rebounds, second on the team

in both categories. Owens, who

played behind Austin, redshirted

this year after a bout of

mononucleosis.

The departures leave Maryland

with only eight players for the

2020 -21 season.

Coach Brenda Frese adds just

one new player next year in 6-3

forward Angel Reese. The

Baltimore native is the No. 2

player in the Class of 202 0,

according to E SPN.

— Ava Wallace

G eorgia freshman 6-5 guard

Anthony Edwards announced

his plans to enter the NBA draft,

in which he is p rojected to be one

of the top picks. Edwards l ed the

nation’s freshmen with 19.1 points

per game....

Alabama Birmingham hired

former Mississippi coach Andy

Kennedy to lead its p rogram. A

two-time SEC coach of the year

and the Rebels’ winningest coach,

Kennedy is the second-leading

scorer in UAB program history.

Kennedy, 52, r eplaces Robert

Ehsan....

L oyola Marymount hired Stan

Johnson as its head coach. He

spent t he past five years at

Marquette, most recently as

associate head coach.

Johnson replaces Mike

Dunlap, w ho was dismissed a fter

going 81-108 in six seasons....

South Carolina point guard

Tyasha Harris is this year’s

recipient of the Dawn Staley

Award, n amed after the South

Carolina coach and former

Virginia star.

Harris, a 5-10 senior, averaged

12 points i n leading the

Gamecocks to a 32-1 record and a

No. 1 finish in the AP rankings.

She is the first player in program

history w ith 700 career assists.

BASEBALL

New York Yankees right fielder

Aaron Judge revealed he had a

collapsed lung that has healed

and said his broken rib is

improving. Judge, 27, d id not play

in any spring training games....

A group of former and current

players formed an advocacy

group asking that Major League

Baseball d ouble salaries in the

minors to $15,000 per season.

Advocates for Minor Leaguers is

led by Garrett Broshuis, w ho has

represented players in lawsuits

alleging minor league salaries

violate minimum wage laws.

MISC.

The XFL canceled the

remainder of its return season

because of the n ovel coronavirus

pandemic. The league, with teams

in New York, Washington, Los

Angeles, Houston, Seattle, Dallas,

St. Louis, and Ta mpa, played half

of its 10-game regular season....

Soccer’s European

Championship will be played in

2021. T he tournament is
      scheduled to be played in 12 cities
      across Europe, with the final in
      London on July 11....
      The National Women’s Soccer
      League is delaying the start of the
      regular season because of the
      coronavirus.
      The league announced that it is
      imposing a moratorium on
      training through April 5,
      following the guidelines from the
      Centers for Disease Control and
      Prevention. Because of that, the
      season will not start as planned
      April 18....
      Vladimir Zabrodsky, one of
      the best Czech hockey players in
      history, died. He was 97.
      — From news services
      and staff reports

DIGEST

FROM NEWS SERVICES

AND STAFF REPORTS

It’s official: To m Brady will play
for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
next season. Saying he was “excit-
ed, humbled and hungry,” the six-
time Super Bowl champion broke
the n ews Friday morning on I nsta-
gram.
Brady, a free agent, announced
this week that he would not be
re-signing with the New England
Patriots, w ho drafted him i n 2000.
Brady signed a two-year con-
tract with the Buccaneers worth
$50 million, according to a person
familiar with the deal. All $50 mil-
lion is guaranteed. The contract
contains another $9 million in pos-
sible incentives, pushing its poten-
tial value to $59 million over two
seasons. The contract contains a
no-trade clause and prohibits Bra-
dy from being franchise-tagged.
Brady underwent a physical in
New York before signing with Ta m-
pa Bay, an examination that
stretched over two days. The length
was “unusual,” a person with
knowledge of the NFL told the Bos-
ton Globe, but in the end the Bucs
got their guy.
— Matt Bonesteel
l BRONCOS: Denver contin-
ued an impressive offseason haul
by agreeing to a two-year d eal with
former Los Angeles Chargers run-
ning back Melvin Gordon.
A person with knowledge o f the
deal told t he Associated Press t hat
it’s worth $16 million with all but
$2.5 million guaranteed.
His $8 million annual salary
ranks fourth in the NFL among
running backs.
l FALCONS: One day after the
Los Angeles R ams cut high-priced
running back Todd Gurley II, he
landed in Atlanta.
Gurley received a one-year deal
worth $6 million.
l SAINTS: Free agent left
guard Andrus Peat agreed to a
five-year contract keeping him in
New Orleans, General Manager
Mickey L oomis said.
A person familiar with the con-
tract said it is worth $57.5 million
— an average of $11.5 million per
season.
In addition, free agent defen-
sive back and special teams regu-
lar Justin Hardee agreed to a one-
year contract.
l VIKINGS: Minnesota has an-
other s tarter on defense to replace.
Defensive end Everson Griffen
will not re-sign with the t eam.
Griffen and his agent an-
nounced they were unable to
come to terms with the Vikings
because of the team’s salary cap
constraints.
l STEELERS: Pittsburgh
agreed t o terms w ith tight end Eric
Ebron o n a two-year deal.
The team also agreed to terms
with guard Stefen Wisniewski,
bringing the Pittsburgh native
home on a two-year deal.
The Steelers even executed a
rare in-division trade, acquiring
backup defensive tackle Chris
Wormley and a seventh-round
pick from Baltimore for a fifth-
round pick in t his year’s d raft.
l DOLPHINS: Linebacker
Elandon Roberts signed with Mi-
ami, which added yet another ex-
New England Patriots player to
the r oster.
l BROWNS: Cleveland added
another veteran safety, agreeing to
terms with Andrew Sendejo on a
one-year, $2.25 million contract.
l COWBOYS: Dallas is bring-
ing back several of its depth play-
ers, reaching agreements with
linebackers Joe Thomas and Jus-
tin March while re-signing offen-
sive lineman Joe Looney.
— Associated Press

NFL NOTES

Brady gets

$50 million

guaranteed

from Bucs

they receive each week from off-

site wagers. Track ownership col-

lects a set proportion from bets

placed on its races, usually rang-

ing from about 10 percent to

25 percent, depending on the type

of wager.

The decision by ownership to

keep running races without fans

has kept a steady flow of revenue

pouring in this month while the

competition for sports betting has

gone dark. On Sunday — just days

after the NCAA, the NBA, the NHL

and MLB canceled or postponed

their events — 1 0 races were held in

front of empty grandstands at G ulf-

stream, generating $11,030,400 in

wagers across the country, accord-

ing to data maintained by horse

racing website Equibase.

On Thursday, Rajiv Maragh, a

jockey who regularly competes at

Gulfstream, wrote on Twitter that

he decided to stop racing because

of concerns a bout the coronavirus.

“Hopefully the owners and

trainers who I’m riding for don’t

hold it against me in the future,

but the well being of myself and

my f amily is first,” Maragh w rote.

After closing Friday to “update

its p rotocols,” G ulfstream planned

to resume racing Saturday, the

park said in a statement.

In a phone interview Thursday

evening, Gary Stevens — one of

America’s most accomplished

jockeys who serves as a television

analyst in his retirement — i nitial-

ly defended the decision by track

owners t o remain o pen.

“Everybody’s very aware to

keep as much distance as we can.

... Personally, I’m glad that we’re
able to put a show on.... We’re
really the o nly game in town,” s aid
Stevens, who hosts “A merica’s Day
at t he Races” o n Fox Sports 1.
Minutes l ater, however, Stevens
acknowledged he w ould have c on-
cerns if he were still riding in any
of the races he was preparing to
discuss this weekend on air.
“The question that’s been a sked
of me the most is would I be r iding
right now?” S tevens said. “I would
have been a week ago. I’m not so
sure if I would be n ow.”
[email protected]
[email protected]

Chuck Culpepper contributed to this

report.

A groom who tested p ositive for

the coronavirus caused the sus-

pension of racing at Aqueduct

Race Track in New York on Thurs-

day. Previously, the track had an-

nounced plans to continue racing

without fans.

“We are working w ith the coun-

ty a nd state departments o f health

to ensure proper quarantine and

sterilization practices will contin-

ue to be followed moving for-

ward,” Dave O’Rourke, president

and chief executive of the New

York Racing Association, which

oversees racing at Aqueduct, said

in a statement.

To many Americans, horse rac-

ing is defined by the Triple Crown:

three races held at historic tracks

— Churchill Downs in Kentucky,

Pimlico i n Maryland and B elmont

in New York — e ach M ay a nd June.

The horse racing industry, howev-

er, is also heavily fueled by lesser-

known tracks across the country

whose daily races year-round

draw billions annually in bets

placed via mobile apps, websites

and off-site gambling establish-

ments.

To these tracks, closing to spec-

tators is not a massive financial

hardship because of the millions

race.... The starter breathes in the

jockey’s face and vice versa,” an

employee at one major track said.

“The people you see on TV are the

ones who are the greatest concern.”

In N ew Mexico, Sunland Park i s

one o f the few horse tracks to close

all racing activities voluntarily,

even though n one o f its e mployees

have tested positive for the coro-

navirus.

“A lthough there have been no

known cases of the covid-19 at the

property, we are suspending oper-

ations out of an abundance of

caution and to promote social dis-

tancing,” Sunland Park spokes-

man Ethan Linder said in a state-

ment.

Also at major risk, according to

track employees, are grooms, the

laborers who care for the horses

on a day-to-day basis. Many of

them a re immigrants from Mexico

and Central and South America

who live at the tracks in relatively

confined spaces, such as bunk

beds and dormitory-style housing.

“They are the blood and life of

the r acetrack,” a n employee a t one

major park said. “They’re very

hard-working guys; they live two

to four a room.... Without them,

we could not survive.”

protection of the essential person-

nel that care for the nearly 7,500

horses that are stabled at o ur facili-

ties,” wrote Tiffani Steer, spokes-

woman for the Stronach G roup — a

Canadian corporation that owns

several major horse tracks, include

Santa Anita Park in California and

Gulfstream Park in Florida — in an

email response to an inquiry from

The Washington Post.

Several hours after Steer sent

this statement, Stronach-owned

Laurel Park in Maryland abruptly

announced it was canceling rac-

ing indefinitely under orders by

Gov. Larry Hogan (R), but the

company’s other tracks still in-

tend to hold races without specta-

tors this weekend, according to

their websites.

Track employees who spoke to

The Post said — despite the state-

ments from the Stronach Group

and other course owners — it is

virtually impossible to hold horse

races without some workers com-

ing in close contact with each

other. In t he m inutes b efore a race

begins, jockeys and assistant

starters, in particular, sit in prox-

imity in stable gates, usually three

or four feet a part at m ost.

“A ll you have to do is watch one

BY WILL HOBSON

AND NEIL GREENBERG

The NCAA, the NBA, the NHL

and Major League Baseball have

canceled or postponed competi-

tion to try to slow t he spread of t he

novel coronavirus, but o ne A meri-

can s port is persisting through t he

pandemic: horse racing.

Horse tracks a cross the c ountry

have closed to spectators but con-

tinue to hold races, with track

owners raking in millions in gam-

bling r evenue while i nsisting their

sport can k eep w orkers safe from a

potentially lethal, easily transmit-

ted virus that has taken hold in

every state in the country.

But concerns are rising within

the industry that horse racing’s

ruling class is downplaying the

risks to jockeys and track employ-

ees as the sport enjoys an unex-

pected m onopoly on the American

sports betting market, according

to interviews with workers at

three major venues, who spoke on

the condition of anonymity out of

fear of retribution.

“We’re all basically on top of

each other, and some of us have

elderly parents at home we’re tak-

ing care of. It’s t errifying,” s aid one

employee, who said his job as an

assistant starter requires him to

sit within two or three feet of

jockeys, not the Centers for Dis-

ease Control and Prevention’s rec-

ommended six or more feet to

reduce risk of contracting the cor-

onavirus.

In statements released over the

last week as their tracks have

closed to spectators, the compa-

nies that own many of America’s

horse parks have pledged races,

without spectators, can abide by

CDC guidelines to reduce the risk

of spreading the virus because

races occur outside and track em-

ployees can work at safe distances

from each o ther.

“We are operating in full compli-

ance with all government and local

health orders while ensuring the

Horse tracks take a gamble by remaining open

sUe ogroCKI/AssoCIATed press

Off-track betting sites such as this one in an Oklahoma casino normally are a steady flow of revenue.

Races continue at venues

without spectators,

but employees face risks