Santa Anita cancels Monday program due to forecast of heavy rain
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ARCADIA, Calif. - Santa Anita has canceled a scheduled eight-race program on Monday because of a forecast of extensive rain, the seventh day lost to inclement weather since the meeting began in late December.
The decision was made early Sunday morning. No makeup date for Monday’s program had been announced as of midday Sunday.
Track officials said a makeup day is possible later in the winter-spring meeting, which runs through April 5.
Because of an unsettled forecast this week, the track will run a nine-race program on Friday consisting entirely of dirt races.
The early weeks of the current season were plagued by wet weather. The first two days of the meeting – Dec. 26 and Dec. 27 – were canceled along with programs on Dec. 31, Jan. 1 and Jan. 3-4.
Three makeup days were held Dec. 29, Jan. 8 and Jan. 15. The Dec. 31 program was scheduled as a makeup day, but was also rained out.
The track is likely to select a Thursday as a makeup day in coming months. Racing at the current meeting is held largely on a Friday-through-Sunday schedule.
California tracks are discouraged from racing in severe weather, following inclement weather policies enacted by the California Horse Racing Board in late 2020.
In early 2025, the track escaped cancellations related to wet weather, but lost three days of racing in early January because of devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Three makeup days were later conducted in January and March.
In the winter of 2023-2024, there were six days of racing canceled because of rain. Three replacement days were added to the schedule that year.
At the 2022-2023 winter-spring meeting, the track canceled eight days of racing from early January to late March because of weather conditions and was able to make up four days of racing.
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