Calder cancels La Prevoyante

Calder’s 12th-hour decision late Monday afternoon to scrap the Grade 3 La Prevoyante, its traditional year-end offering for long-winded female turf specialists, put a bit of a crimp in what was shaping up as a great Saturday of racing around the south Florida area.

The 1 1/2-mile La Prevoyante was to be one of three graded stakes and four stakes races overall to be offered at Calder and Gulfstream on Saturday. Calder will still run the Grade 3, 1 1/2-mile W.L. McKnight, while its next-door neighbor Gulfstream Park counters with the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector and grassy El Prado for older males.

The decision to cancel the La Prevoyante came down to business, according to John Marshall, Calder’s vice president of racing and general manager.

"As we approach the conclusion of the Tropical meet, projected purse revenues have to line up with purses to be paid," said Marshall. "In the case of the La Prevoyante, the race did not fill to the level necessary to offer a positive value proposition to Calder purses. If more horses would have been entered into the La Prevoyante, as we had hoped, the projections for wagering activity would have painted a far better picture. This was a business decision based entirely on economics."

Earlier in the day, racing secretary Mike Anifantis said he was expecting entries for the La Prevoyante from trainers Christophe Clement (Long Island Handicap runner-up Tabreed), Bill Mott (Dowager winner Preferential), and Todd Pletcher (Group 1 South American winner Viva Rafaela).

The McKnight filled with 11 horses.

Calder sets 2014 stakes

Calder has announced its stakes scheduled for the opening half of 2014, a program that will be topped by the rich Summit of Speed on July 5. The Summit of Speed features both the Grade 2 Princess Rooney and Smile handicaps. The Princess Rooney was downgraded from a Grade 1 to a Grade 2 this year.

The 2014 stakes schedule begins Jan. 4 with the $65,000 Chipski Stakes. The $250,000 Calder Derby highlights the early portion of the program on April 5. Calder is scheduled to open the 2014 season on New Year’s Day and continue to run in direct conflict with neighboring Gulfstream throughout the winter. Officials from Calder and Gulfstream as well as their parent companies, Churchill Downs Inc. and the Stronach Group, are continuing negotiations in an attempt to work out a compromise that might alleviate the head-to-head competition between the tracks that has continued since July 1.