Sunland halts Sunday's card due to weather; 4 stakes reset for Feb. 28
Sunland Park will run the four stakes it was forced to cancel Sunday because of extreme weather on Tuesday, Feb. 28, said Dustin Dix, director of racing operations for the New Mexico track.
The races include the $100,000 Mine That Bird Derby, which is a prep for the Grade 3, $600,000 Sunland Park Derby on March 26.
Dix said the four stakes will be tacked on to the end of Tuesday’s nine-race card that begins at 12:25 p.m. Mountain. It will make for a 13-race program and there will be an all-stakes pick four on races 10-13, Dix said.
The stakes will be run with the same fields and posts as they were drawn for Sunday. Sunland received approval for the transfer of the races to Tuesday from the staff of the New Mexico Racing Commission.
The Island Fashion, which is a prep for the $300,000 Sunland Park Oaks, will be run as the 10th race at 4:25 p.m., Dix said. The Red Hedeman Mile goes as the 11th with a post of 4:50 p.m. The Mine That Bird Derby is set as the 12th race with a post of 5:15 p.m. The Dominguez Memorial is the 13th race.
Dix said Sunland, after discussions with horsemen, wanted to run the stakes back as soon as possible for timing considerations, as all of the races are preps for stakes on the Sunland Derby Day card of March 26. The Sunland Derby and Sunland Oaks are both points races for the respective Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks.
Sunland canceled after the second race Sunday due to high winds and dust gusts that impacted visibility. Dix said the decision was made in conjunction with the track’s jockeys. Dix said last season, Sunland lost a date of racing to high winds.
Dix is hopeful having four stakes on Tuesday’s card will be popular with horseplayers. The Mine That Bird Derby drew a competitive group led by the Steve Asmussen-trained How Did He Do That and the Southern California shipper Henry Q.
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