For the second day in a row, Oaklawn Park has been forced to cancel its Friday, Feb. 4 card due to weather.
A winter blast, which has affected most of eastern half of the U.S., has kept temperatures at or below freezing since Tuesday and has left the track unsuitable for racing, the Arkansas track said in a release.. The track will remain open for simulcast racing and gaming.
Oaklawn officials, horsemen representatives and the stewards met at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 3, and made the unaminous decision to cancel, which marks the fourth weather-related cancelation of the meet. The track also lost opening day, Friday, Jan. 14, and two Thursday cards, Jan. 20 and Feb. 2.
“There were several factors that played into our decision to cancel for a second straight day, but the main reason is the frozen track,” said assistant general manager of racing David Longinotti. “We are going to make every effort to race Saturday and Sunday. However, we need to be able to protect our track for the entire racing season and maintain the safest racing surface possible.”
