The Chief of Staff of the Buenos Aires province, Carlos Bianco, has confirmed that racetracks in La Plata, San Isidro, Tandil and Azul will resume their activities on October 1, but only by following a strict protocol. He made the announcement following a meeting at the headquarters of the Provincial Institute of Lottery and Casinos (IPLyC), the local gambling regulator.
“We met at the IPLyC offices with different representatives of the horse racing sector to inform them that, as of October 1, we will enable the activity without the public,” said Bianco.
In order to reopen the racetracks in the province, the IPLyC put together a protocol with sanitary measures that must be followed by all racetracks. At the beginning of the month, the horse racing authorities estimated that they could return this week, although they finally reached an agreement and the Buenos Aires Governor Axel Kicillof approved the October reopening.
The meeting included the President of the IPLyC Omar Galdurralde, the Provincial Director of Racetracks and Casinos Cristian Segal, the Vice President of the Lottery María Laura García, Senator Gervasio Bozzano and the Executive Secretary of the IPLyC Juan Padín.
In the city of Buenos Aires, the Hipódromo de Palermo resumed racing action on August 28, without the presence of the public and limited to daytime operations. To avoid large crowds, horses can only stay in the facility during the races, but won’t be allowed to remain afterwards to prevent more people from entering the track.
As was the case in the province, the Palermo racetrack was forced to shut down its doors in mid-March to prevent the spread of the virus in Argentina, one of the worst affected in the world by the pandemic.
