Rain forces 5 of 6 Preakness Day turf races to the main track

BALTIMORE – Mother Nature finally won out at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, forcing five of the day’s six turf races to the main track.

According to Georganne Hale, the director of racing for the Maryland Jockey Club, seven inches of rain has fallen at Pimlico since Tuesday.

On Friday, Black-Eyed Susan Day, management was able to keep three of the seven scheduled turf races on a soft course that was resulting in exceedingly slow times.

Early Saturday morning, races 2 and 4 were moved from turf to the main track, but at 8 a.m. three other races were taken off the grass, leaving only the Grade 3, $150,000 Gallorette on the turf.

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Hale is hoping to keep the Gallorette on its intended surface, but that will depend how much rain is received during the day.

“We would have loved to have kept them on the turf, but it’s just too dangerous to run them all,” Hale said. “We might try to run the Gallorette. A lot of horses were coming out if we moved it off. We’ll see how the day goes.”

Three stakes were taken off the turf Saturday – The Grade 2 Dixie, The $100,000 James W. Murphy, and the $100,000 The Very One.

Many were surprised that the $250,000 Dixie, a 1 1/16-mile turf race, was moved to the main track but the Gallorette stayed on the grass.

“We figured how many we would have in the Dixie if we were on turf and how many if we were off,” Hale explained. “We had four on the dirt, and I think three on the soft turf.”

World Approval, the champion turf horse of 2017 who is trained by Mark Casse, would have been favored in the Dixie. According to Hale, World Approval would have been scratched even if the race had stayed on turf.

Hale said the same holds true for Divisidero, who is trained by Kelly Rubley and would have been among the favorites.

Casse said World Approval will now be pointed to the Grade 2, $200,000 Wise Dan, a 1 1/16-mile turf race at Churchill Downs on June 16.

Divisidero is likely to run next Saturday at Monmouth Park in the Grade 2, $200,000 Monmouth Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf, according to Rubley.

With five of the six turf races taken off, and the main track sloppy, the Preakness Day card was decimated with scratches. Only three races on the card held together, including the Preakness, whose original field of eight is scheduled to start.

There were 137 horses on the program for Saturday’s 14 races, but after 43 scratches only 94 remained as of 10:30 a.m.

"The rain just killed us," Hale said.