Santa Anita cancels Friday card due to expected rain
Santa Anita has canceled an eight-race program for Friday because of expected rain through the day, racing secretary Jason Egan said.
The decision was made before 9 a.m. Friday. Egan said no makeup day has been arranged and that additional races will be offered on the weekend of March 17-19 to accommodate owners and trainers who had horses entered Friday.
Egan said the track had sustained two-tenths of an inch of rain by early Friday morning, with another three-tenths forecast through the afternoon. There was concern from track maintenance staff that rain through Friday would affect the quality of the main racing surface in advance of scheduled programs on Saturday and Sunday, Egan said.
Without racing on Friday, track maintenance crews will be able to seal the surface tightly, allowing any rain to roll off the top of the surface instead of seeping into the soil.
“If we were to race and leave our track open, the track would be less-than-ideal for tomorrow’s card for general conditions,” Egan said Friday morning.
The cancellation comes a day after Santa Anita ran an eight-race program on Thursday as a makeup day for rain-related cancellations earlier this winter.
Santa Anita has canceled seven days of racing this winter during a time when California has had higher-than-normal rainfall following drought in recent years. Racing was not conducted Jan. 1, 14, and 16 and on the weekend of Feb. 24-26 because of excessive rain.
The track has conducted two makeup days – Jan. 20 and Thursday, but lost one of its makeup days on Feb. 24 to rain.
Additional makeup days are possible before the end of the winter-spring meeting on June 18, track officials have said in recent weeks.
Egan said that the March 17-19 programs could have as many as nine, 11, and 11 races, taking advantage of the start of Daylight Savings Time this weekend to offer more races.
California tracks are discouraged from racing in severe weather, following inclement weather policies enacted by the California Horse Racing Board in late 2020.
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