Hollywood Gaming Mahoning Valley Race Course was forced to move its scheduled Tuesday, Jan. 18 race card to Friday, Jan. 21 due to the lingering effects of Winter Storm Izzy, which dumped some eight-plus inches of snow in the Youngstown, OH area. It was also forced to cancel Monday's card due to the storm.
First post for Friday's card will be 12:45 p.m., and live racing is scheduled to resume at Mahoning Valley at the same time Wednesday.
Laurel Park cancelled live racing again Friday, Jan. 7, due to winter weather that disrupted the area and later added that racing would be cancelled through the weekend, according to a press release from the Maryland Jockey Club (MJC). A Monday snowstorm had resulted in the cancellation of training earlier in the week and the Maryland track also cancelled live racing Thursday. A fresh storm was sweeping through the area Thursday night and Friday morning, with Aqueduct also cancelling Friday's card.
Laurel will remain open for simulcasting, as will Pimlico, Rosecroft, and the MJC OTB Network.
Live racing at Laurel is scheduled to resume Saturday, Jan. 8, with first post at 12:25 p.m.
Chris Griffin, track announcer at Sam Houston Race Park, joins Ray Paulick and Joe Nevills on this week's edition of The Friday Show in the wake of the historic deep freeze that wreaked havoc with the electrical grid and water supply in Houston and other Texas cities.
“It was a unique situation, a bit scary at times, but we got through it,” Griffin said. “Your immediate thought if you're involved with horse racing – and it should be – is how are the horses going to be handling the conditions and what we are going to go through.”
Fortunately, an emergency plan was in place, and the backstretch community rallied to make it work. “Last week was a very trying, difficult time where we all had to work together,” he said.
After four lost racing days, the action resumed this week, just in time for Saturday evening's Texas Preview Day, and Griffin provides some insights on the 12-race card featuring five stakes for Texas-breds.
Finally, bloodstock editor Joe Nevills gives a toast to Spendthrift Farm's Vino Rosso in our new segment spotlighting the stallion's first foals.
