Updated on 01/25/2013 4:51PM

Aqueduct cancels for second day in a row; Charles Town shuts down Friday night

By David Grening
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Aqueduct canceled live racing for Friday due to cold temperatures, the second straight card scrapped due to weather.

 Aqueduct and Belmont Park were to be open for simulcasting.

Temperatures were expected to be in the low to mid 20s on Friday with wind chills in the mid to upper teens. Light snow was forecast for the middle of the afternoon, but minimal accumulations were expected.

Aqueduct has now canceled three cards this winter.

Live racing is expected to resume on Saturday, when temperatures are forecast to reach 30 degrees.

*Charles Town cut short its live racing program after two races Thursday night and called off Friday evening's program because of extreme cold weather.

The jockeys held a vote on whether to continue after riding two races Thursday and there not enough riders willing to compete to allow the program to continue. According to local weather services, the temperature 15 minutes before the decision was made to cancel the card stood at 20 degrees with a wind chill of 13. 

W.G. 10 months ago
As said commenting to Thursday's cancellation, I wonder if the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) asked NYRA to cancel racing now for two days because of concerns of the trasportation of horses between Belmont Park (where most horses who race at Aqueduct are actually stabled) and Aqueduct interfering with the special shuttle buses the MTA is having to run between Howard Beach-JFK airport and Far Rockaway (due to the rail bridges between the Rockaways and Howard Beach being almost completely destroyed by Sandy and still a long way from being back to operational, which is now not expected to happen until late summer-early fall). There are a good number of people in the Rockaways who need those buses just to go get basic necessities due to businesses in the Rockaways still being closed because of damage from Sandy. These people already have a VERY rough ride because the bus has to use the only bridge that handles traffic between the mainland and Rockaways and outside of overnights can be as long as an hour each way under normal circumstances because of that. That's to me why I think the MTA may have asked NYRA to cancel for a second day in a row knowing the issues they are dealing with right now (and will continue to deal with for at least another six months).
Russell 10 months ago
So you are saying Aqueduct is likely to cancel for the next 6 months?
Larry Kaufman 10 months ago
it was 22 degrees at post time for race 1 at laurel and of course they are racing. the people running nyra need to go,they have no clue
Horse Cents 10 months ago
Maybe it's time to leave the winter racing to the smaller tracks who offer a product in need of survival. If a major venue cancels due to a frozen track unsafe to ride, snow, or risk of frost bite to jockeys, let it go, and use that money to pump the other NY tracks.
W.G. 10 months ago
NYRA used to ALWAYS race in this weather, but has never had to deal with a post-Sandy situation where the MTA is having to run the kind of shuttle buses they currently are between Far Rockaway and Howard Beach due to the tracks being out following the destruction of the railroad bridges by Sandy. The MTA in my view may very well have requested the cancelations the last two days because of concerns the transportation of horses between Belmont Park and Aqueduct would interfere with shuttle bus service that as it is takes an hour most of the time due to major traffic issues that are unavoidable.
Robert Tuccille 10 months ago
when will they jus stop runing this meet look over the last 3or 4 years how bad it got with bad horses jus stop running it it will do ny racing better ....
wolves 10 months ago
track is a laughingstock.....look at the entries: in the first 3 races, only 15 were scheduled to start.
Larry Kaufman 10 months ago
i think nyra is using the weather as an excuse not to run because they are afraid of more breakdowns.cheap horses running for inflated purses is a major reason for these breakdowns. the worst thing to happen to new york racing is the RACINO
W.G. 10 months ago
Likely not the reason: As said, it would not surprise me if the MTA requested the cancellations the last two days out of concerns the vans that transport the horses going between Aqueduct and Belmont Park are interfering with shuttle buses the MTA is currently having to run (and will continue to do so until sometime this fall) between Howard Beach and Far Rockaway due to the rail bridges connecting Howard Beach (and Aqueduct) to the Rockaways being out after being destroyed by Sandy.
Larry Kaufman 10 months ago
nyra is a joke im sure no other track in the northeast will cancel today. mr crist do you have anything to say about this
Frank 10 months ago
They shouldnt be racing there in the winter in the first place. Greedy state government and crooked politicans cant go without the revenues so they sacrific the horses by running winter meets! But yea they care more then NYRA and want to stop breakdowns on the track. What a joke!
avlamal 10 months ago
telling they dont need the money real stupid decision shows cuomo they have no nbeed for nyra they dont cancel slots because of cold weather
Russell 10 months ago
I've never been there, but I been told the slots are indoors.
Brian Taylor 10 months ago
Why bother having live winter racing in the first place? Global Warming can't come soon enough for NYRA.