Santa Anita Cancels; Sham Rescheduled

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Photo: BenoitPhoto.com

Santa Anita canceled its Feb. 27 program due to heavy rain that hit the Southern California area the night before and then began again mid-morning.

The card was to include the $150,000 Sham Stakes (gr. III) for 3-year-olds, a major prep for the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby (gr. I). The Sham has been rescheduled for March 6.

“Because of the torrential rain, the surface was unsuitable for racing,” said George Haines, Santa Anita’s general manager. “We also knew that we were going to get this tail end of the storm. If we hadn’t gotten that, there’s a good chance we could have run.”

The additional rain was expected to further impact the Pro-Ride synthetic surface. The night before, Santa Anita put a tarp over about 50 yards of the track at the finish line.

“We have a problematic area at the finish line, and we tarped that as a precaution,” said Haines.

The latest storm was expected to end in the afternoon.

“We are extremely confident that we should be able to run tomorrow,” said Haines.

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