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Dr. Fauci’s 4-Legged Namesake Wins Summer Meet Race in Kentucky

An interesting piece of horse racing news comes from Kentucky, where a thoroughbred named Dr. Fauci finished first in the Summer Meet race held at Keeneland. It’s just too bad that the horse racing event was held without spectators, being one of the conditions in allowing horse owners to proceed with the scheduled 5-day Summer Meet that begun last July 08.

Dr. Fauci, the two-year old race horse became an instant celebrity for besting 11 rivals on the second-day race of the Summer Meet Jockey Tyler Gaffalione rode Dr. Fauci for a five and a half furlong in Keeneland’s race grounds for 58.65 seconds, whilst bagging the $42,000 first prize.

Dr Fauci The Race Horse a Fitting Tribute to Its Namesake

Dr Fauci, the colt was actually a heavy favorite to win, having previously won second place at the Belmont Park in New York, last June 03, 2020. The young race horse was bestowed the name Dr. Fauci after his Belmont Park win, which co-owner Phillip Antonacci sais was meant to honor the real Dr. Anthony Fauci, the long-time director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. .

Purchased for $175,000 at the September 2019 Yearling Sale held by Keeneland, Antonacci said naming the horse after the NIAID director of 34 years, is their way of showing appreciation for the doctor’s lifelong service. For them, Dr. Fauci, the scientist,  was the voice that “calmed things without being political, whilst providing genuine data on what was really going on.”

The colt was originally set to make its debut run in the 2020 Spring Meet in Keeneland last March, but was unfortunately canceled due to the COVID-19 lockdown orders.

About the 2020 Summer Meet in Keeneland

Disappointment met many Kentucky horse racing fans when they learned that one of the conditions to the reopening of the race track was for the Summer Meet to take place without spectators. Inasmuch as the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened in Texas Arizona and Florida, Keeneland administrators said they had no other choice but to abide by the conditions set down by Kentucky officials.

Keeneland officials also said that in drawing up plans to ensure the safety of track employees and horsemen, they sought collaboration from Kentucky’s public health experts and officials, as well as collaboration with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.