Del Mar cancels Sunday card as rain from Hurricane Hilary approaches
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Del Mar and Los Alamitos have canceled racing on Sunday due to a forecast of excessive rain from the remnants of Hurricane Hilary.
Del Mar made the decision after an early morning meeting of track executives on Saturday. Los Alamitos announced the cancellation of Sunday evening’s races later in the morning.
Hilary’s eye was off the coast of Mexico, more than 800 miles south of Del Mar, before dawn on Saturday. The storm is expected to make landfall in the Mexican state of Baja California early Sunday and have a northward trajectory through Southern California.
While the storm is expected to rapidly weaken as it travels north, the Del Mar area is forecast to receive two to four inches of rain, according to track Vice President of Racing Tom Robbins. He said wind gusts could approach 50 miles per hour.
Robbins said track executives waited until Saturday morning to cancel the Sunday program to see if the storm’s path had changed. “It didn’t change overnight,” he said.
Sunday’s nine-race program was scheduled to include the $150,000 Solana Beach Stakes for California-bred fillies and mares at a mile on turf. The race has been postponed to Friday.
Entries for Friday’s program have been delayed until Tuesday, Robbins said.
The main track and training tracks will be closed on Sunday and Monday.
No makeup day will be planned as a result of the closure, the track said in a statement, but additional races may be added to scheduled programs before the end of the summer season on Sept. 10.
Del Mar’s barn area is at sea level. Over the weekend, track officials were working behind the scenes to relocate horses from some of the lower areas of the stable area to vacant stalls at slightly higher ground, Robbins said. Some horses were shipped to Los Alamitos 80 miles to the north, and to San Luis Rey Downs, 25 miles to the northeast.
Wet weather is rare during the Del Mar summer meeting. Racing was canceled on Thanksgiving day in 2019 because of excessive rain.
California tracks are discouraged from racing amid severe weather.
The California Horse Racing Board enacted regulations in late 2020 stating that in the event of significant rain that results in a sealed or floated main track that a track superintendent must certify that the surface is safe for racing and that a unanimous decision to race has been reached by track stewards, a representative of the Jockey’s Guild, the racing board’s safety steward and the board of stewards.
Earlier this year, Santa Anita had several weather-related cancellations after a wetter-than-normal winter and spring.
Los Alamitos will be closed for simulcasting on Sunday, the track said in a statement. Two stakes – the Los Alamitos Claiming Futurity and Takin on the Cash Handicaps – scheduled for Sunday will be run on Aug. 27.
The Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball moved their Sunday games to Saturday, while the Los Angeles Galaxy and Los Angeles FC postponed their Major League Soccer games to later in the season.
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