Laurel Park has joined Aqueduct, Charles Town, and Penn National in canceling some racing programs this week due to the arctic blast that is nearing the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Laurel Park has canceled its Thursday card and is scheduled to race Friday.
The temperature in Laurel, Md., is supposed to bottom out Wednesday night at 4 degrees, according to Accuweather. The Thursday high is forecast to be 22 degrees, with winds of 14 to 23 mph.
The advancing cold front that will bring frigid temperatures to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic on Wednesday night has forced racing cancellations at Charles Town and Penn National.
Charles Town in West Virginia has canceled its Wednesday evening card and is scheduled to resume racing Thursday if conditions permit.
Penn National, outside Harrisburg, Pa., has canceled through Saturday and is scheduled to race next on Wednesday, Feb. 6. The temperature in Harrisburg is forecast to drop to 3 degrees Wednesday night and stay below freezing until Saturday.
There will not be live racing Thursday at Aqueduct due to a forecast that calls for extreme cold conditions, the New York Racing Association announced Wednesday.
Further, the tracks will be closed for training at both Aqueduct and Belmont Park.
The National Weather Service calls for a high temperature of 16 degrees in the New York metropolitan area on Thursday, with wind chills between minus 5 and minus 15 degrees. It is the third full-card cancellation at Aqueduct this month.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Robert “Butch” Reid told jockey Jose Ortiz he’d buy him lunch if he could hold the freakishly fast Maximus Mischief to a half-mile in 49 seconds over the packed down, sealed, but still muddy racetrack here Monday morning in his all-important final breeze before Saturday’s Grade 2 Holy Bull.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The local 3-year-old division added another major player over the weekend after the sensational debut by Hidden Scroll, who splashed to a 14-length maiden victory Saturday while posting a 104 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance.
“I can’t recall any other 3-year-old posting a number that high going a mile or further in their first start,” said Dick Jerardi, a member of the Beyer Speed Figure team. “But to put it in perspective, it’s the same number Justify received winning his first start, going seven furlongs, last year.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday that Audible came back well from his fifth-place finish in Saturday’s Pegasus World Cup.
Audible, the reigning Florida Derby winner, was beaten 12 1/4 lengths by City of Light after breaking from post 10 and getting hung wide on both turns over the sloppy track.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – For the second time in a week, a major contender has been withdrawn from consideration for Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct.
Le General, who has won two New York-bred races by a combined 10 lengths, came out of his last workout with a sore suspensory in his right foreleg, according to majority owner Jeffrey Kallenberg.
On Jan. 16, Le General worked five furlongs in 1:04.08 over a deep Aqueduct main track.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Mertkan Kantarmaci has won six races from 17 starters this winter at Aqueduct. He believes it’s just the start of something big.
“I think this year is going to be a good year in New York,” Kantarmaci said at his Belmont Park barn Sunday morning, a few hours before he sent out Tayler’s the Boss to a 13-1 upset in a $25,000 claimer at Aqueduct.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday will play a pivotal role in the short-term future of Gum Tree Lane, the promising winner of a maiden race at Los Alamitos in December.
Owned by Michael House and trained by Phil D’Amato, Gum Tree Lane will make his stakes debut in the $150,000 Lewis at 1 1/16 miles. D’Amato chose the Lewis over a first-condition allowance race with an $80,000 claiming option at a mile on Thursday.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It was Monday morning and the owners of Somelikeithotbrown still had yet to decide where the colt would make his 3-year-old debut.
“We’re leaning toward the Dania Beach [at Gulfstream] Saturday,” said Harvey Diamond, who co-owns the New York-bred with longtime partners Jim Shircliff and David Koenig. “But we might wait for the [Feb. 8] Battaglia at Turfway or even the [Feb. 16] Risen Star” at Fair Grounds. “This decision is almost driving me crazy.”
