Oaklawn cancels for third straight day

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.- Oaklawn Park has canceled Saturday’s nine-race program due to the freezing temperatures that have gripped the Hot Springs, Ark., track for much of the past week. It’s the third consecutive card lost the winter blast.

Oaklawn was forced to cancel programs both Thursday and Friday. The track also lost six of its races last Sunday, when heavy rains moved into the area. The cancellations are the first of the meet that opened on Jan. 10.

Oaklawn has harrowed its track continually since Wednesday afternoon. The card Saturday featured the $100,000 King Cotton, a six-furlong race that had drawn multiple stakes winner Alsvid.

Oaklawn officials said the track would remain open for simulcasting and gaming on Saturday, just as it had Thursday and Friday.