Kentucky Derby to be held with fans, but officials acknowledge ‘different experience’

The Kentucky Derby will take place with fans this year, officials said, although they did not offer details on how many would be allowed inside Churchill Downs for the world-famous horse race.

“We are going to conduct Derby Week with fans,” Churchill Downs President Kevin Flanery told reporters at the venue Thursday, NBC News reported. “It’s going to be a different experience. This is a different year.”

Flanery did not specify how many fans would be allowed in but said the race, which typically draws about 150,000 spectators, would feature “reduced capacities throughout the facility.”

The event typically includes 60,000 reserved seats, and spokesman Darren Rogers said the venue is currently reaching out to those ticketholders to confirm if they still plan to attend.

Flanery said he believes fans can safely attend the Sept. 5 event at the 1.6-million-square-foot facility.

“We will continue to be nimble,” he said, according to NBC. “We will adjust to the facts as they are in the moment. But we have to make plans.”

Kentucky’s seven-day average positivity rate for coronavirus testing as of Thursday is 3.82 percent, below the 5 percent threshold the World Health Organization says states should go below before reopening businesses.

Officials said the venue will remove “chef’s table” buffets, make all ticket sales mobile and place markers in lines at betting windows to keep fans at a distance from one another. Employees will be required to wear masks, but Flanery said the venue would not require them for fans.

“We’re going to be encouraging everybody to wear the mask,” he said. “We’ll work with folks. We’re going to encourage them to do it. We’ll be gently reminding folks.”

The decision comes about a month after the announcement that the Belmont Stakes in New York, originally set for June 6, was rescheduled for June 20 without fans.