Weather prompts Aqueduct to cancel Thursday card

The calendar has changed to March but the song remains the same. A winter storm forecast to bring 4 to 7 inches of snow to the area forced the New York Racing Association to cancel Thursday’s card at Aqueduct.

It is the 14th full card lost to weather and safety concerns this winter. Seven races of another card were also scrapped.

Racing was expected to resume Friday when there will be a pick six carryover of $148,147 starting with the third race (2:18 p.m. Eastern). The forecast for Friday was for sunshine with a high of 27 degrees.

The snow started early Thursday morning after a mix of snow and rain pelted the area Tuesday night and most of Wednesday. Aqueduct’s inner track was a sea of slop on Wednesday. Training at both Aqueduct and Belmont Park was canceled both Wednesday and Thursday mornings, with only jogging barns available at both tracks for horses to get in some exercise.

Aqueduct hosts three stakes races on Saturday, including the Grade 3, $400,000 Gotham for 3-year-olds on the Kentucky Derby trail. The forecast for Saturday is for dry conditions and temperatures in the mid- to upper 30s.

Aqueduct and Belmont Park were open Thursday for simulcasting, though both Laurel Park and Oaklawn Park canceled their live programs due to weather.