OZONE PARK, N.Y. - A nor'easter forecast for the East Coast prompted New York Racing Association officials on Saturday to cancel Sunday's scheduled nine-race card at Aqueduct. It was the second cancellation of the inner track meet and fourth since Nov. 3.

Aqueduct will be open Sunday for simulcasting and admission and parking will be free.

Sunday's card was the last scheduled day of racing at Aqueduct until Dec. 26.

Santa Anita has further delayed the opening of its synthetic main track for training until Wednesday at the earliest as tests continue on solutions to a drainage problem that has plagued the surface in recent months.

Track president Ron Charles told the California Horse Racing Board at a meeting on Friday that track officials continue to test different blends of wax, sand, rubber, and fiber to solve a drainage problem that has prevented training on the surface since Dec. 5.

The Louisiana Racing Commission on Friday upheld the decision of the Delta Downs stewards to disallow a foul claim concerning bumping in the late stages of the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Jackpot on Dec. 7. An appeal by the owner and trainer of Golden Yank, who finished third by a neck to dead-heat winners Z Humor and Turf War, was heard at its meeting in New Orleans.

The commission reviewed the tape of 1 1/16-mile race for 2-year-olds and heard testimony before their vote, which was unanimous, according to Charles Gardiner, executive director of the commission.

Golden Gate Fields stewards have fined trainer Jeff Bonde $1,000, suspended a veterinarian for 30 days, and disqualified a Bonde-trained horse from her first-place finish in a Sept. 1 Bay Meadows race after a positive test result for metabolites of the painkiller lidocaine.

The horse, El Sierra Tahoe, showed a presence of the metabolites in postrace testing by the Maddy Analytical Laboratory at the University of California at Davis. The ruling leaves El Sierra Tahoe unplaced, with $10,200 in purse money ordered returned for redistribution.

PORTLAND, Ore. - There are certain kinds of trouble that horses can rarely overcome, so when a horse does overcome trouble of that sort you have to sit up and take notice.

With that in mind, Jimbos Fire Ant must have been tons the best in last Sunday's $40,000 Os West Oregon Futurity at Portland Meadows. When was the last time you saw a front-runner appear to break down on the far turn, allowing rivals to pass her on the inside, then suddenly regain her stride to win going away by an easy three lengths?

A California court has ruled that a referendum aimed at blocking development of Bay Meadows did not have enough valid signatures to be placed on the ballot.

The Friends of Bay Meadows, a group fighting development of the 83-acre racetrack, circulated petitions in 2005 to overturn the San Mateo City Council's approval of a plan to build offices, stores, and homes at the site.

ARCADIA, Calif. - A probable field of 13 starters for the $750,000 CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park next Saturday has caught trainer Eoin Harty by surprise. Harty did not envision that many challengers for his horse Colonel John, who will go favored.

"I didn't think of that," he said.

A lucrative purse, and the fact that this is the final Grade 1 of the year for the division, has made the Futurity attractive to the owners and trainers of many promising 2-year-old males. Even with a large field, Harty remains confident.

NEW ORLEANS - Flying Zombo fits in this company. The problem is he seems to prefer staying in this company, as he tries for the fourth time on Sunday to become an allowance winner, a $40,000 first-level race at 1 1/16 miles on the turf carded as the ninth race.

Flying Zombo has run three turf allowance routes, coming home third twice before holding on for second last time out. His last race, Nov. 24 on the turf at the Fair Grounds, featured five of the horses running in Sunday's race.

Remington Park handled an average of $659,021 a day on its races during its 69-date meet that closed Dec. 1, a 24 percent decline from the corresponding meet in 2006.

Last year, the track's handle jumped 58 percent from the 2005 average daily handle of $549,701.

The decline this year stemmed primarily from a drop in handle on Remington's races offtrack, which averaged $580,650 a card, down 27 percent from 2006.

Song of Navarone, who has not raced since winning the $600,000 WinStar Derby at Sunland Park in March, is scheduled to ship to New Mexico on Monday, said his trainer, Henry Dominguez. The horse has been in Kentucky recovering from a stomach virus that interrupted his 3-year-old season. Song of Navarone became sick in August, and was forced to scratch from the Grade 3, $750,000 West Virginia Derby on Aug. 5.