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View Winners → Citing Heavy Rain, Santa Anita Cancels Monday Racing
Arcadia Weekly Jan 19, 2010
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After consulting with jockeys, horsemen and Track Superintendent Richard Tedesco, Santa Anita brass made the decision to cancel live racing was made at 11:45 a.m. Monday morning.
“We were very much hoping to be able to race today,” said Santa Anita President Ron Charles. “Safety is always our number one priority and unfortunately, we’ve already been hit with quite a bit of rain. We decided to cancel before the races started because the forecast is for heavy rain throughout the day and we determined that the conditions just wouldn’t be safe for our athletes, both human and equine.”
Santa Anita’s main track, which is comprised of Pro-Ride synthetic, has been in place for the past two years.
“On balance, the Pro-Ride has performed very well,” said Charles. “We have had a very safe meet thus far and of course, we had two tremendous Breeders’ Cups here at Oak Tree on Pro-Ride. The problem is, it just isn’t draining properly. We’re going to be realistic the remainder of the week, as heavy rain is predicted for the next few days.
“We are scheduled to be dark Tuesday and Wednesday and we’ll make a determination on Thursday’s card as soon as possible.”
The Gr. II San Marcos Handicap, which attracted a field of nine runners and was scheduled to be run as Monday’s seventh race at 1 ¼ miles on turf, will be redrawn and run this Sunday, Jan. 24.
The remaining eight races from Monday’s cancellation will be redrawn and run in coming weeks.
Santa Anita will be open all day Monday for simulcast wagering and any patrons who entered prior to the live-racing cancellation will receive rain checks redeemable for free admission any day throughout the remainder of the winter/spring meeting which concludes on April 18.
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