Finger Lakes cancels Thursday card

Finger Lakes canceled its Thursday card in order to maintain field size for the rest of the week, the track announced Tuesday. The card would have been the first Thursday program of the meet, which began April 18 and runs through Dec. 5.

This was to be the meet’s first five-day racing week, with cards scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday through Saturday.

“Although the numbers of race-ready horses has continued to improve, only about 40 percent of the over 1,000 horses on the grounds have raced at this point,” track president and general manager Chris Riegle said in a statement. “By trying to race on Thursday this week, we would simply be spreading out the available horses over more days and thereby further reducing field size in each race as well as the quality of our racing product.”

Friday’s nine-race card begins at 12:35 p.m. Eastern.