winter weather | Horse Racing Free Tips

Variable Winter Weather Wreaking Havoc With Racing

Winter weather conditions on the East Coast and the Midwest continue to impact racing operations at a variety of racetracks.

Parx Racing in suburban Philadelphia cancelled Monday's scheduled live program in the morning hours and by mid-afternoon, word was circulating that the live card for Tuesday was also called off. Temperatures well-below freezing prompted weekend cancellations at Aqueduct and Laurel and although temperatures in the region flirted with the 40-degree mark on Monday, the thawing and re-freezing of racing surfaces is surely causing nightmares for track superintendents.

Temperatures had once again sunk to sub-freezing by nightfall Monday, but the forecast is slightly more positive–albeit rainy–over the next 72 hours. According to weather.com, the lowest low temperature is 33 degrees during the overnight hours Tuesday into Wednesday, with a predicted high temperature of 61 degrees by Friday.

The next scheduled card at Parx is this Wednesday.

Officials at Oaklawn Park were forced to cancel its entire slate of racing last weekend and conditions were forecast to moderate over the coming days. That fact notwithstanding, training has not been taking place at the Hot Springs oval and according to a communique to the local horsepeople, the track will not open for training before 2 p.m. this Wednesday, Jan. 24. A further update was expected by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Turfway Park was able to conduct live racing last Wednesday and Thursday, but were forced to cancel both Friday and Saturday's programs.

Racing is scheduled to resume Wednesday at Turfway and Friday at Aqueduct, Laurel and–tentatively–Oaklawn.

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Oaklawn Shuffles Cards Due to Cancellations; Southwest Now Scheduled Feb. 3

Oaklawn Park, forced to cancel a number of race dates this month–including this coming weekend's live racing–due to winter weather, has moved the entire GIII Southwest S. card to Saturday, Feb. 3. A GI Kentucky Derby points race, the $800,000 Southwest is worth 20 points to the winner and points on a scale of 10-6-4-2 to the second- through fifth-place finishers. Although the Southwest was originally scheduled for Jan. 27 and racing is currently scheduled for that date, several stakes races have been reshuffled at the Hot Springs oval due to the cancellations.

All three Southwest undercard black-type events have also been moved to Feb. 3. They include the Martha Washington S. for 3-year-old fillies offering points on a 20-10-6-4-2 basis toward the GI Kentucky Oaks, as well as the American Beauty S. for filles and mares three and up and the King Cotton S. for horses three and up.

“The Southwest and Martha Washington are important preps for our 3-year-old stakes program,” said Oaklawn President Louis Cella. “They are also important points races for the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks. It is important for our horsemen to have ample opportunities to train their horses properly for the races. Not only has this winter weather forced us to cancel racing, but our horsemen have also missed some training days.”

The Southwest will join three other 20-point Derby preps also scheduled for Feb. 3: the GIII Withers S. at Aqueduct, the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. at Santa Anita, and the GIII Holy Bull S. at Gulfstream. The entire Southwest card will be drawn Sunday, Jan. 28 with the same races originally listed in the condition book for Jan. 27.

The GIII Bayakoa S., originally scheduled for Feb. 3, has been bumped back to Feb. 2 to accommodate the new schedule. In addition, the listed Fifth Season S., originally set for this Saturday, Jan. 20, will now be run Jan. 27. It will be redrawn.

Live racing at Oaklawn is scheduled to resume next Friday, Jan. 26 with a first post at 12:30 p.m. CST.

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Oaklawn Cancels Weekend Racing

As a result of inclement winter weather expected this weekend in the Midwest, Oaklawn Park has cancelled the weekend's Feb. 4-6 cards and will bring them back in March, the track reported Thursday. The GIII Bayakoa S., which was set to be run Saturday, will be brought back Saturday, Feb. 12 as part of an 11-race card that also includes the GIII Razorback H. Three Thursday cards–Mar. 17, 24 and 31–have been added in March to make up the postponed dates.

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Cold Snap Prompts Oaklawn Cancellation

Officials at Oaklawn Park tweeted Thursday afternoon that racing and training would be canceled for Friday, Jan. 21 owing to extreme cold temperatures in and around Hot Springs.

According to the tweet, the track intends to open for training Saturday, Jan. 22 and racing will go forward, with a first post time of 1 p.m. Central time.

Officials anticipate returning to normal schedules Sunday, Jan. 23.

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