Santa Anita cancels Monday card due to bad weather

DiscreetCatDiscreetCat Moderator
edited January 2010 in Horse Racing Forum
from Bloodhorse:

Live racing has been cancelled for Monday, Jan. 18 at Santa Anita Park due to wet track conditions and the certainty of continued heavy rain throughout the afternoon.

After consulting with jockeys, horsemen, and track superintendent Richard Tedesco, the decision to cancel live racing was made at 11:45 a.m.

“We were very much hoping to be able to race today,” said Santa Anita president Ron Charles in a release.

“Safety is always our number one priority, and unfortunately, we’ve already been hit with quite a bit of rain. We decided to cancel before the races started because the forecast is for heavy rain throughout the day and we determined the conditions just wouldn’t be safe for our athletes, both human and equine.”

Santa Anita’s main track, which is comprised of Pro-Ride synthetic, has been in place for the past two years.

“On balance, the Pro-Ride has performed very well,” said Charles. “We have had a very safe meet thus far. The problem is it just isn’t draining properly. We’re going to be realistic the remainder of the week, as heavy rain is predicted for the next few days.

“We are scheduled to be dark Tuesday and Wednesday and we’ll make a determination on Thursday’s card as soon as possible.”

The San Marcos Handicap (gr. II), which attracted a field of nine runners and was scheduled to be run as the seventh race Jan. 18 at 1 1/4 miles on turf, will be redrawn and run this Sunday, Jan. 24.

The remaining eight races from Monday’s cancellation will be redrawn and run in coming weeks.

Santa Anita will be open all day Jan. 18 for simulcast wagering, and any patrons who entered prior to the live-racing cancellation will receive rain checks redeemable for free admission any day throughout the remainder of the winter/spring meeting which concludes April 18.
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