Belmont Now Shortest Race in 2020 Triple Crown

Stories Shaping Sports and Business: May 19th

Belmont to Open the Triple Crown

In a normal year the Belmont Stakes is the third leg in horse racing's Triple Crown event. However, 2020 is anything but a normal year.

Instead the thoroughbred race will be this year’s first leg for the first time in history with a new scheduled date of June 20th.

The race was originally scheduled for June 6th, but the coronavirus forced the event to get pushed back. COVID-19 is also the reason the Kentucky Derby, traditionally the first leg of the Triple Crown, was rescheduled from May 2nd to September 5th and the Preakness Stakes, typically the second leg, from May 16th to October 3rd.

This year’s Belmont race also has a shortened length. Throughout its history, the Belmont was the Triple Crown's longest race. This year it will be the shortest. Instead of 1.5 miles it will be 1 and 1/8th of a mile.

No fans will be permitted to attend the event, per New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's mandate.

MGM Plans on Opening Casinos in Mississippi on Memorial Day

Casino powerhouse MGM plans on opening two of their casinos in Mississippi on May 25th. CDCGamingReports.com has a great color-coded map of the United States showcasing the type of casinos open in each state. As of May 19th, only Arkansas, South Dakota and Louisiana have commercial casinos open. There are seven states including California, Arizona and North Carolina where tribal casinos are opened on a case-by-case basis. There are over 20 states including Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania that have casinos closed indefinitely.

MGM is also making headlines on the financial front by adding $700 million to its balance sheet, which now puts them at $5.3 billion in liquid assets.

JUST ANNOUNCED: In accordance with the Mississippi Governor’s approval for the state’s casinos to reopen, @GoldStrikeMGM will open to the public on Monday, May 25 with @BeauBiloxi following on Monday, June 1. Learn more: https://t.co/ONRHvoBp0E pic.twitter.com/H8FbyZq4iY
— MGM Resorts (@MGMResortsIntl) May 19, 2020

Daily Coronavirus Update

There are over 4.8 million cases worldwide, and over 318,000 deaths. 1.5 million of those cases are in the United States, and over 90,000 deaths. New York has 352,000 cases and 22,000 deaths. There are 290,000 cases in Russia and Brazil now has 255,000 cases. The United Kingdom has 247,000 cases and 34,000 deaths, the second-highest number of deaths next to the U.S.

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified in front of the Senate. Both Mnuchin and Powell discussed the fragile state of the economy and they both warned that there would be more job losses in the coming months. But these two had differing opinions on how to aid the economy. Powell said that more fiscal support to states and economies may be needed in order to prevent permanent economic damage, while Mnuchin said that there needs to be a reopening, and soon, or else the economy may never fully recover. If states delay reopening, “there is the risk of permanent damage,” Mnuchin said.