Live racing for Jan. 22 at Santa Anita has been canceled due to continued wet conditions, but officials are optimistic that with a dry forecast in store for the weekend, racing will resume on the following day.
“We’re told that the heavy rain is supposed to be clear of us by about noon tomorrow,” said Santa Anita president Ron Charles on Jan. 21, when racing was also canceled. “The weather outlook for the weekend is favorable and we are optimistic that if the forecast holds, we’re going to be able to run Saturday and Sunday. As we’ve said, safety is our number one priority and we’ll continue to make all decisions based upon that."
Maintenance crews began aerating the track surface this week in an effort to open drainage pockets.
“Even though it’s been raining hard at times over the past four days, we’ve seen a lot of improvement in the main track and the way it’s draining. However, we’re told we could get two or more inches of rain today, so we felt it would be in everyone’s best interest to make the decision to cancel Friday’s program this morning.”
Santa Anita, which also canceled racing Jan. 18, has experienced continued drainage problem with its synthetic Pro-Ride surface after a week of prolonged rain. Charles said earlier this week the racetrack will replace the current main track with another surface after the current meet, which runs through April 18, is concluded.