Early week rain expected to end prior to opening day

ARCADIA, Calif. – Wet weather may disrupt training at Santa Anita early in the week, but conditions are expected to be mainly dry for Thursday’s opening day, according to Dennis Moore, who heads the track maintenance crew.

Moore said weather forecasts indicate approximately .8 of an inch of rain from Sunday night into Tuesday. There is a possibility of rain before dawn Thursday, he said.

“I think most of the opening day should be good,” he said. “This time of year it changes so rapidly.”

Earlier this month, Santa Anita was advised by the California Horse Racing Board to proceed cautiously regarding racing on wet tracks for the upcoming winter-spring meeting, which runs through June 21. Throughout the season, there will be racing on sealed tracks only if a group of officials – including Moore, other track executives, jockeys, and a safety steward employed by the racing board – unanimously agree conditions are safe.

The racing board did not dictate how much rain must be measured for racing to be canceled, but emphasized that racing cannot be conducted “until the track is deemed safe after an extreme precipitation event.”

Earlier this year, racing was halted for three weeks in March after a series of equine fatalities in February and early March. Southern California sustained higher-than-normal rain in the early months of 2019. Racing was conducted on sealed tracks on several days.