Aqueduct cancels Friday, Saturday cards, moves Withers to Feb. 11
OZONE PARK, N.Y. -- Live racing at Aqueduct Friday and Saturday has been canceled due to forecasted cold conditions, the New York Racing Association announced Thursday.
According to the National Weather Service, wind-chill values will be between zero and 10 degrees on Friday with wind gusts above 35 miles per hour. On Saturday, the forecast calls for wind-chill values between 8 and 10 degrees with sustained winds. Training Saturday morning has also been canceled.
The Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes for 3-year-olds scheduled for Saturday will be rescheduled for Feb 11. It will be open to original nominees and potential supplements and be redrawn next Wednesday. The Withers offers its top five finishers (20-8-6-4-2) qualifying points toward the May 6 Kentucky Derby.
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The $100,000 Ruthless Stakes for 3-year-old fillies will be run Sunday as part of an expected 10-race card. That race was to be redrawn Thursday.
NYRA stakes coordinator Andrew Byrnes said the reason for bringing the Ruthless back Sunday is because horses who run in that seven-furlong race could still come back in the $200,000 Busher going a one-turn mile on March 4.
Byrnes said the Withers, run at 1 1/8 miles, is more of a prep for the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial on April 8 than the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham on March 4. Thus, pushing the Withers back shouldn’t impact the Gotham, a one-turn mile race.
Byrnes also said that by pushing the Withers back, it could potentially attract a few more horses than the six that were originally entered for Saturday.
Classic Catch, a horse trained by Todd Pletcher, was held out of the Withers because of a subpar workout last weekend. He is going to work back this weekend in South Florida. Bill Mott and Saffie Joseph Jr. could now potentially ship up horses for the Withers, Byrnes said.
“It’s not guaranteed, but it gives other horses the opportunity to make it here,” Byrnes said. “It’s not going to affect the Gotham and if we can gain one or two more horses, then so be it.”
Hit Show, the Brad Cox trainee who was originally entered for Saturday, had his flight from Arkansas postponed from Tuesday to Thursday and while he would have made it in time to run this week, the extra week likely benefits him.
The delay also gives Prove Right more time to get here from Turfway Park.
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