Tag: air quality

Air Quality Concerns Cause Midwest Cancellations

Dangerous air quality conditions caused by wildfires in Canada have forced the cancellation of the live racing programs at Hawthorne Race Course in suburban Chicago and at Horseshoe Indianapolis further to the south and east.

“Based on the poor air quality in Indiana today's races have been canceled,” a tweet from the track read. “This decision was made mutually with our horsemen based on the safety of the participants in our racing program coming first. A decision on bringing today's races back will be made shortly.”

Track announcer John Dooley tweeted a graphic from WRTV in Indianapolis indicating that the air quality index (AQI) in the state capitol was a 'very unhealthy' 257 as of 8 a.m. ET Wednesday. Racing is scheduled to return Thursday at 2:10 p.m. ET.

 

 

 

“Safety and consideration for our equine and human athletes always comes first, no matter what the circumstances are,” said Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing. “We are fortunate to have a great partnership with our racing organizations, and as a group, we decided this decision was the best for everyone involved. We even want to take into consideration the safety of our racing fans who enjoy sitting trackside to watch the horses.”

The AQI as of 7 a.m. ET in Cicero, Illinois, was also in the very unhealthy range at 218, according to Hawthorne's Jim Miller, prompting track officials to take a similar decision. Miller said racing is expected to return Thursday.

Racing at Belterra Park near Cincinnati, at Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pennyslyvania, and at JACK Thistledown outside of Cleveland was also called off.

Tracks on the eastern seaboard were also forced to cancel racing over the last few weeks, the result of wildfires in Eastern Canada.

 

 

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Golden Gate Cancels Live Racing Card

Golden Gate Fields in Berkley, California, cancelled the Oct. 2 live racing card due to poor air quality stemming from the widespread fires in the state.

“Due to unhealthy air quality unsuitable for racing, Golden Gate Fields is cancelling live racing today,” according to a Tweet posted by the track. “We will be monitoring this situation on a daily basis.”

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With Hazards Having Abated, Golden Gate Returns Thursday

While racing this week at Santa Anita has been canceled due to the fires that are ravaging the West, its sister track, Golden Gate Fields, will be back in business starting Thursday. Golden Gate Vice President and General Manager David Duggan said the area surrounding the track has undergone a dramatic transformation, with clear blue skies having replaced the orange glow that had surrounded the Bay Area earlier.

Golden Gate was forced to cancel its three weekend cards last week and as not raced since Sept. 7.

“Last Thursday, you couldn’t make it up. It was truly bizarre,” he said. “At 9:30 in the morning we had lights on on the track because you could not see in front of you. Visibility was down to about 10 meters.”

Duggan said that as recently as Sunday he was still convinced that racing would not be held at Golden Gate this week, but then came an abrupt change.

“You would not believe the change,” he said. “I promise you, you would not believe the change. It is absolutely beautiful here with an air quality reading of 20. It was just extraordinary. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s clear and the visibility is great. You can seethe city, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge. There’s no hint of smoke in the air whatsoever. It’s as if nothing had ever happened.

“I was frighteningly bad. We lost Friday, Saturday and Sunday and had to interrupt training. Everything that could go wrong with the air quality and the prevailing conditions went wrong. Today, if you were dropped into the place from the sky you’d say ‘Why were you guys making such a big deal about this?'”

Duggan said when the effects of the fires were at their worst the Air Quality Index was about 292.

“It was extremely unhealthy around here for a while,” he said.

An AQI of 20 means the air is satisfactory and air pollution poses little or no risk.

Duggan said the change was likely the result of shifting wind patterns.

“The winds that came just blew everything away and we’re back to being a beautiful bayside racetrack,” he said.

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Due To Air Quality Concerns, Santa Anita Will Push Opening Day Back To Sept. 25

The opening day of Santa Anita's Autumn season will be pushed back a week until Friday, September 25, due to the impact of Bobcat Fire on the air quality and surrounding community.

“Our local community has been deeply impacted by the Bobcat Fire burning for more than a week in the mountains behind us,” said Aidan Butler, Executive Director of California Operations for The Stronach Group. “The current weather pattern has kept the smoke in the valley and the air quality is quite poor right now. The Red Cross is using Santa Anita as the evacuation zone for people – including many of our horsemen – whose homes are less than two miles from here. As excited as we are to welcome back live racing, we are first and foremost committed to safety. This is the responsible decision to make at this time so people can plan accordingly.”

“The stakes races set for this weekend will be brought back next weekend,” said Steve Lym, Santa Anita's VP – Racing & Racing Secretary. “The smoke has impacted some training schedules, so postponing until next weekend will allow everyone a chance to be ready to go. We are planning on filling extra races throughout the meet to give our horsemen the opportunity to run their horses.”

The Opening Week now will feature a blockbuster schedule of outstanding stakes action, offering over $2-million in purse money. The stakes schedule includes seven races which are “Win and You're In” races for the 2020 Breeders' Cup World Championships. The stakes races originally slotted for this weekend will be run as follows: the Chillingworth on Friday, September 25, the Speakeasy on Saturday, September 26 and the Tokyo City Cup on Sunday, September 27.

Entries for Opening Day, September 25, will be drawn on Sunday, September 20, as scheduled. First post will be 12:30 p.m. PT.

The post Due To Air Quality Concerns, Santa Anita Will Push Opening Day Back To Sept. 25 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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