Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, La., has canceled Saturday night's card because of flooding in the area. It is the second straight cancellation this week, as the track also lost Friday night’s program for the same reason.

Chris Warren, director of racing at Evangeline, said on Saturday that the streets leading to the racing plant were experiencing flooding. He said there is not yet a decision as to whether the lost cards will be made up because officials are first dealing with the flooding in the area.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Steve Asmussen often exhibits a hardened exterior, never truly revealing what he’s thinking, to the point where sometimes it’s not easy to tell if he won or lost a race.

On Friday, however, Asmussen showed an emotional side rarely seen publicly as he was formally inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Asmussen got choked up sitting in the front row as Julie, his wife of 19 years, introduced him. Later, when talking about his parents, Keith and Marilyn, Steve Asmussen had to stop.

Tom Metzen, a driving force in Minnesota horse racing since the early 1980s, died Wednesday at age 78 due to complications from cancer.

Metzen, a straight-talking native of South St. Paul, Minn., played a role in seemingly every important initiative in Minnesota racing. He was part of the team that helped pass parimutuel legislation in the early 1980s, which led to the opening of Canterbury Downs in 1985.

California Chrome, the 2016 Dubai World Cup winner, has been moved up two pounds on the World’s Best Racehorse list due to his recent victory in the San Diego Handicap at Del Mar, but he remains ranked below A Shin Hikari, the Japanese horse who won the Prix d’Ispahan at Chantilly, France, in May.

The 128-pound rating for California Chrome’s San Diego performance leaves the 5-year-old colt in sole possession of second place on the list, which is compiled by European handicappers and is based on a horse’s best performance of the calendar year.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Rachel Alexandra posted a series of historic victories during an audacious sophomore campaign. Steve Asmussen, who saddled her for the majority of those, is one of the winningest trainers in the history of racing. The duo were seeming no-brainers for election to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame this year despite being on one of the deepest ballots in recent memory.

Vic Stauffer has been named the new track announcer for Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. He replaces Pete Aiello, who last month was named the year-round announcer at Gulfstream Park. Stauffer’s appointment was announced Wednesday. Oaklawn opens for racing Jan. 13.

Stauffer, 57, has been the announcer at such tracks as the now-shuttered Hollywood Park, where he worked for 13 years, as well as Gulfstream, Golden Gate Fields, and Hialeah. Stauffer will be the sixth announcer in the 113-year history of Oaklawn.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – For the first time since his forced retirement in 2013, Ramon Dominguez has spent a large amount of time at the racetrack this summer at Saratoga.

His apprehension has been replaced by the realization that the track still has the comforts of home.

Clay Hancock, an owner of Claiborne Farm and sister of Dell, Arthur III, and Seth Hancock, died Monday of a heart attack in Paris, Ky. She was 71.

It is more than 4,800 miles from the tranquil Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., to boisterous Rio de Janeiro, where the eyes of the sports world are focused on the Olympic Games this week. But Thoroughbred racing has a closer connection to those goings-on than one might think, as a trio of Olympians, including two considered favorites in their respective sports at these Games, spend a significant amount of time at Fair Hill.

Chocolate or vanilla? Ford or Chevy? Mantle or Mays? The Beatles or the Stones? These are topics that can be debated for hours, and of course there is no right or wrong answer; it’s mostly just a matter of personal preference. For horse racing fans in recent years, there’s a topic that has joined that list: Who was better, Rachel Alexandra or Zenyatta?