Wind knocks out power, curtails training on Monday

Severe winds knocked out power to Santa Anita early Monday morning and left debris strewn all over the area, forcing training to be stopped prior to the scheduled first renovation break at 6:30 a.m.

“It’s been a bizarre few days here,” said trainer John Sadler, who had a number of horses scheduled for works later Monday morning. “Rain on Saturday that was more than they thought, Sunday the track is drying out, and then this. The power went out around 5:40, and the track never reopened due to high winds.”

A text notice sent to horsemen from the racing office said both the main track and training track “will remain CLOSED for the remainder of the morning because of dangerous winds.” Much of Southern California was under a Santa Ana wind warning Monday.

Only 22 horses had recorded workouts before the track was closed, the most prominent being the top turf mare Cambodia, who went a half-mile on the main track in 49.40 seconds.

Among those who had to have a work postponed was 2017 Pacific Classic winner Collected, seeking to bounce back from a disappointing comeback effort at Parx last month.

The wind “was pretty bad,” said Bob Baffert, who trains Collected. “It looks like Woodstock.”