Hurricane Kay expected to bring rain to Del Mar on Friday

The remnants of a Pacific hurricane are expected to lead to wet conditions at Del Mar on Friday and Saturday and could jeopardize some turf racing.

Track officials on Thursday were closely monitoring forecasts of Hurricane Kay, which was headed north off the west coast of Baja California in Mexico.

Significant rain could force overnight races to be moved from the turf to the main track.

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Rain is expected before the start of racing at 3 p.m. Pacific on Friday with more rain expected early Saturday, according to Del Mar director of racing Tom Robbins.

“Our goal is to run the stakes” on turf, Robbins said. “Some of the earlier races could be in jeopardy. That’s with a huge asterisk, not knowing until we face actual weather.”

Del Mar hopes to allow training on Friday, Robbins said.

The storm is not expected to make landfall in California, but is expected to stay offshore and turn to the west.

As it changes direction, the outer bands of the storm are expected to drop widespread rain throughout Southern California, particularly San Diego County, where Del Mar is located.

The expected rain will affect training at Santa Anita. The track announced on Thursday morning that there will be no training there on Saturday on its main track or infield training track because of expected rain. The training track will reopen for exercise on Friday, while Saturday was supposed to be the first day of training on the main track following an annual summertime break.