Calder Race Course announced Dec. 16 the two stakes races postponed earlier this month will not be rescheduled. Instead, portions of the purse money for those races will be allocated to its remaining overnight schedule. The $100,000 Tropical Turf Handicap (gr. IIIT) and $100,000 My Charmer Handicap (gr. IIIT) were originally scheduled for Dec. 5, but were postponed because of a quarantine restricting travel in and out of the Calder stable area.
The overall quarantine that limited travel in and out of Calder was lifted Dec. 14, but three barns remain under restriction until Dec. 21 due to a horse in one of those barns being diagnosed with the highly contagious Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) disease. No other horses at Calder have been diagnosed with EHV-1 since.
Calder will repurpose a portion of the purse monies to additional overnight racing opportunities during the remainder of the 2009 Tropical meet that runs through Jan. 2. The decision to reallocate the purse money was supported by the leadership of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association.
Calder has four stakes races remaining on the 2009 schedule: the $150,000 W.L. McKnight Handicap (gr. IIT), $100,000 Stage Door Betty Handicap (gr. III), and $100,000 Kenny Noe, Jr. Handicap (gr. III) – all on Dec. 26; and the $100,000 Tropical Park Derby (gr. IIIT) on Jan. 1, 2010.
