Santa Anita cancels Monday card due to forecast, lack of entries

Santa Anita has canceled racing on Monday because of concern over a forecast of rain and a low number of entries on what would have been a program consisting entirely of races on the main track.

The track announced the decision Friday afternoon.

The Monday program is the second day of the holiday weekend lost to inclement weather. The track canceled racing on Saturday on Thursday morning. Racing was held on Friday and is scheduled for Sunday.

Santa Anita has lost three days of racing to rain this month. The Jan. 1 program was not held because of rain.

The track has added a day of racing on Friday, Jan. 20, as a make-up date. Racing was not originally scheduled for Jan. 20 when racing dates were announced late last year.

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The forecast for Saturday calls for approximately an inch of rain in the Santa Anita area, according to accuweather.com. Rain is expected to resume Sunday night, but the forecast is for less rain on Monday.

Santa Anita scheduled two turf races on Friday, but will not use the surface on Sunday. With rain forecast on Saturday and Monday, turf races were not offered for Monday’s program, leaving a small number of entries for the proposed dirt races.

Turf racing is scheduled to resume Jan. 20. Racing on grass has become more prevalent in Southern California in recent years, making it more difficult for racing officials to card programs consisting entirely of main-track races.

Track officials had warned Thursday that Monday’s program was in jeopardy, pending forecasts.

The state of California has received higher-than-normal amounts of rain in the last two weeks, which has made international news and led to flooding in some areas in Northern California.

Santa Anita track president Nate Newby said Thursday that the track had received 11 inches of rain since the current meeting began Dec. 26, the most since the winter of 2018-19. The state has been plagued by drought conditions in recent years.

Santa Anita is one of three tracks in the state to lose multiple days to wet conditions in recent weeks.

Los Alamitos, in nearby Orange County, will not race on Saturday and Sunday evenings this weekend.

In Northern California, Golden Gate Fields plans to run Friday through Monday.

Golden Gate Fields canceled two days of racing on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 because of inclement weather.

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