Protest Cancels First Race at Aqueduct

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The first race at Aqueduct was canceled March 21 when horses entered in the race did not arrive at the security barn by 8 a.m. EDT, the designated deadline.

Associated Press reported that the action is part of a horsemen's protest over the state of New York's failure to select an operator for the track's video lottery terminals. Trainers refused to bring the opening-race horses to the security barn on time, AP reported.

Horses for the remaining races have been arriving on schedule. Aqueduct resumed the remainder of the card, starting with the second race at 1:29 p.m. There is a Pick 6 carryover of $134,894, scheduled to begin with race 4 at 2:27 p.m.

Horsemen also have scheduled a rally for the afternoon March 21 at Belmont Park.

Last month, the Aqueduct Entertainment Group was chosen to run slots operation at that track. The deal quickly fell apart in a storm of political controversy. Legislators in Albany have yet to decide whether to select a replacement operator from the other bidders or to start over.