The 146th Kentucky Derby will run without fans in the stadium, Churchill Downs Racetrack announced Friday, reversing course from a previous plan to have a reduced crowd of spectators watch the race live. “Churchill Downs and all of our team members feel strongly that it is our collective responsibility as citizens of Louisville to do all we responsibly can to protect the health, safety and security of our community in these challenging times and believe that running the Derby without spectators is the best way to do that,” track officials said. Earlier this month, Churchill Downs had said it would allow no more than 23,000 people to attend the Sept. 5 event. Racetrack President Kevin Flanery said the reversal came after Louisville was “tagged a red zone city by the CDC this week.” “We just felt that we could not responsibly bring in 23,000 fans to the facility for the Derby,” he said.
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