UPDATE (9:40 p.m.): The Louisville Courier Journal reports the Kentucky Derby will be postponed from May 2 to Sept. 5.

A New Jersey racetrack that was open for betting this past weekend will close its doors after the Centers for Disease Control recommended no gatherings of 50 people or more for the next eight weeks in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The Meadowlands Racetrack announced Monday it would close its simulcast operations and its Bayonne off-site wagering business for an indefinite period of time beginning at 8 p.m. Monday.

“Based on the new CDC guidelines limiting public gatherings of 50 or more to limit the spread of COVID-19, the Meadowlands Racetrack and Winners Bayonne will be closing,’’ the Meadowlands Racetrack said in a statement. “The health and safety of our employees, horsemen, patrons and community are our top priority. Meadowlands Racetrack will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates when possible.’’

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While most of the sports world was put on hiatus since national leaders and medical experts called for the need to ban large gatherings, a half-dozen tracks held horse racing over the weekend. That didn’t include New Jersey’s three racetracks — Monmouth Park, the Meadowlands Racetrack and Freehold Raceway. Monmouth Park doesn’t feature live racing until May, while track officials at the Meadowlands and at Freehold canceled live-racing cards scheduled for this weekend late last week.

Still, the Meadowlands opened on both weekend days for patrons to bet on simulcast racing, which meant bettors could gather to wager on racing action at tracks in suburban Chicago, Buffalo, N.Y., Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Lebanon, Ohio, Northfield, Ohio, and Ontario, Canada. The track’s Twitter account announced early closures for Saturday (9:30 p.m.) and Sunday (10 p.m.) and said it had planned to open for its regularly scheduled time (10 a.m.) on Monday.

“Regarding our operations on Sunday during simulcasting we were following the guidelines of maintaining less than 250 people in the building,’’ Rachel Ryan, a spokeswoman for the Meadowlands Racetrack, told NJ Advance Media.

The CDC on Sunday recommended all gatherings of more than 50 people should be avoided or canceled for eight weeks after previously setting its guidelines at gatherings of 250-or-more people. The CDC’s new recommendation has already had an effect on bars and restaurants throughout the state, with Jersey City, Hoboken, Red Bank and Morristown among the prominent places that have essentially called for the end dine-in service for the foreseeable future.

Members of the harness racing community have been on alert since the death of John Brennan, a horse trainer who lived in Little Ferry. Brennan was the first New Jersey resident to die from COVID-19 and Rita Fusco-Jackson, a Freehold resident who died on Thursday, was the second.

State Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said one of Fusco-Jackson’s siblings is friends with Brennan, and the virus likely spread through a family gathering. Several other people at that gathering also tested positive for the virus, officials said.

In response to the death of Brennan, a 69-year old trainer who was described as a regular at the Yonkers racetrack in New York, the Meadowlands announced last week that anyone who had recently been in the paddock at Freehold or Yonkers were not permitted on its grounds for two weeks.

Meanwhile, officials at Freehold Raceway on Saturday announced that an unnamed individual who was in contact with a person who tested positive for the coronavirus was at the track on March 7. Track officials said the individual had not tested positive for the coronavirus as of Saturday but continues to be monitored.

Live harness racing at Freehold Raceway scheduled for this weekend has already been canceled and its doors are also closed for simulcasting.

Monmouth Park also announced the closure of its simulcasting and sports-wagering facility starting Monday, 8 p.m., and pushed back its live-racing schedule three weeks to May 23.

"Here in New Jersey we are fortunate to have great leadership who are addressing the safety of our friends and neighbors as well as the entire state,” said Dennis Drazin, chairman and CEO of Darby Development LLC, operators of the Oceanport racetrack. “Gov. Murphy has put plans in place to protect the citizens of New Jersey and we will remain in full compliance with those plans and reopen for sports betting and simulcasting when he deems same safe. The new opening date will return us to our previous traditional opening date. The reality is, with a May 23 opening, we’ll only miss 5 racing days. We’d rather give plenty of notice now rather than continue on a wait and see approach. We firmly believe this slight delay will prove beneficial, across the board, in the long run.''

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NJ Advance Media’s Katie Kausch contributed to this report.

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ.