Santa Anita cancels weekend racing as nearby wildfire continues to expand
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Santa Anita has canceled racing for Saturday and Sunday on Saturday morning, citing the expansion of a devastating wildfire on the westside of Los Angeles.
The announcement was made after 7 a.m. Pacific to horsemen via a text message.
Late Friday and into the early hours on Saturday, the massive Pacific Palisades fire, which has burned more than 21,000 acres since it began on Tuesday, flared in a northerly and easterly direction. While the fire is approximately 30 miles west of Santa Anita, officials decided to cancel the weekend because of concern over worsening conditions in the greater Los Angeles area.
Government officials expanded the mandatory evacuation zones in areas near that fire late Friday, and issued evacuation warnings for several other neighborhoods near the affected area. Flames from the Pacific Palisades fire were visible from the highly populated San Fernando Valley for the first time late Friday into Saturday morning.
Santa Anita has not raced since last Sunday.
After canceling Friday’s program on Thursday because of air quality, the track announced late Friday that racing would proceed on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, only to reverse course slightly more than 12 hours later.
An 11-race program, including the five stakes that comprise the California Cup, was scheduled for Saturday. There were 10 races scheduled for Sunday, including the Grade 3 Las Cienegas Stakes.
The California Cup races will be rescheduled for Jan. 18, while the Las Cienegas Stakes has been rescheduled for Jan. 19.
The track plans to run on Thursday, Jan. 23, pending approval from the California Horse Racing Board, racing officials wrote in a text message to horsemen later on Saturday morning.
Those races are expected to be rescheduled in the near future. Track officials were scheduled to meet on Saturday to discuss when to run those races.
With the cancellation this weekend, racing is scheduled to resume on Thursday with a five-day racing week through Jan. 20. The 10-race Thursday program is a late addition to the calendar. Those races were scheduled to be run on Friday this week.
While racing was canceled, full training was permitted at Santa Anita on Saturday morning for the first time since Monday.
A major fire close to Santa Anita, in Altadena, Calif., northwest of the track, affected air quality in the immediate area in recent days, though conditions had improved through Friday. The Altadena fire has consumed more than 14,100 acres, and spread into areas of adjacent Pasadena.
As of Saturday morning, the air quality index, which measures pollution levels, was 109 at Santa Anita, within range of being rated “unhealthy for sensitive groups.” At that level, racing would be allowed to continue.
According to Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority regulations, tracks have the option of canceling races or workouts, and participants can opt out without penalty, if the air quality index exceeds 150. Racing or workouts should be cancelled if AQI measurements are higher than 175, the policy states.
Neighborhoods near the racetrack were ordered to evacuate earlier in the week because of the Altadena fire. Many of those communities are home to scores of people involved in Southern California racing. Jockey Mario Gutierrez, who has won the Kentucky Derby twice, lost his home in the Altadena-Pasadena fire, his agent, Mike Ciani, told Santa Anita publicity.
Earlier this week, Santa Anita sustained damage to the roofs of some barns and lost trees because of high winds. There were high winds in the area on Tuesday and Wednesday that led to the rapid spread of the wildfires in Los Angeles county.
Santa Anita’s races are among numerous sporting events postponed or canceled in the Los Angeles area because of the fires.
A Los Angeles Kings game was postponed on Wednesday, a day before a Los Angeles Lakers game was not held. The NFL wild-card game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams on Monday has been moved to Glendale, Ariz. Some college and high school sporting events have also been postponed.
The Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers will not play scheduled games on Saturday, the NBA announced on Friday. The next home games for those teams is on Monday.
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