Turfway cancels Friday, Saturday cards due to weather

Ahead of a particularly frigid blast of cold air that is set to hit frozen Kentucky later this week, Turfway Park has canceled its live racing programs for Friday and Saturday nights.

The Wednesday and Thursday programs on the Tapeta surface at the Florence, Ky., track will proceed as scheduled. Post time is 5:55 p.m. Eastern each night, with a low temperature of 20 degrees forecast for Wednesday and 23 degrees on Thursday.

Even colder air moves back into the region Friday, with snow forecast for that day. A low of 6 degrees is forecast for Friday and 5 degrees for Saturday.

The Saturday program was to be highlighted by the $125,000 Leonatus Stakes, a one-mile race kicking off the 3-year-old route series at Turfway that has been influential to the Kentucky Derby in recent years, producing 2022 Derby winner Rich Strike and 2023 runner-up Two Phil’s.

The Leonatus will be re-drawn for Friday, Feb. 2. The race had drawn a field of 11 for Saturday night, including Vote No, winner of the Turfway Prevue around one turn on Jan. 6.

The new scheduling of the Leonatus on Feb. 2 places it just more than four weeks from the $150,000 John Battaglia Memorial on March 2, a 1 1/16-mile race awarding Kentucky Derby points on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale. The series concludes three weeks after that, with the Grade 3, $700,000 Jeff Ruby, a 1 1/8-mile race awarding points on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.