Santa Anita, Other Events Are Postponed : Fire: Unhealthy air and ash force rescheduling or cancellation of horse racing and some high school sports.

Persistent fires and unhealthy air caused from smoke and blowing ash forced numerous cancellations and postponements of athletic events in the Southland on Thursday, including horse racing at Santa Anita in Arcadia.

Officials of the Oak Tree Racing Assn. said the closure of several freeway exits near the track made it difficult for fans to get there. They will apply for a Nov. 15 makeup day at a California Horse Racing Board meeting this morning.

Racing is expected to resume today, and the $10-million Breeder’s Cup scheduled for Nov. 6 will not be affected.

“We expect normal atmospheric conditions will prevail this weekend and for the Breeder’s Cup,” said Sherwood Chillingworth, executive vice president of Oak Tree.

Several fires in the nearby San Gabriel Mountains were visible from the track and the sky was gray and filled with ash.

“Many horsemen declined to work their horses because they don’t want them to hurt their lungs,” said Mike Mooney, a track spokesman. “This cancellation is more of a precautionary thing.”

Racing was last canceled at Santa Anita on Jan. 20 and 21 because of heavy rains.

Officials at the Air Quality Management District said people should treat the outside conditions as a serious first-stage smog alert and limit physical activities.

Bill Kelly, an AQMD spokesman, said the addition of ash makes the condition even worse. He said there are fine particles in smoke that can get in the lungs and cause serious respiratory infection.

As a result, many high school sports activities were canceled or postponed Thursday.

Several cross-country meets in the Southland were called off and the status of several football games tonight was unknown.

Laguna Hills’ homecoming football game against Costa Mesa Estancia was moved from Thursday to Saturday night because administrators believed the air was unsafe.

“You can barely see in front of you around here,” said Wayne Mickaelian, Laguna Hills’ principal.

John Rouse, athletic director at Maranatha High in Sierra Madre, watched from his office window Thursday as several fires continued to burn in the nearby foothills. Although school was canceled Thursday and today, he said the football team will play as scheduled Saturday night.

“They won’t be able to practice for the next couple of days because of the smoky conditions, but the game will go on,” Rouse said.

Many sporting events have been canceled for the remainder of the week at Laguna Beach High, the area hit hardest by the fires. Mike Roche, the school’s football coach, said he was not sure if Saturday’s game against Santa Ana Century would be played or rescheduled.

“I’ll call my players and set up a meeting to see how they feel,” Roche said.

The U.S. national soccer team resumed its regular training Thursday after canceling Wednesday’s practice because of fires in Orange County. Players Peter Vermes and Cobi Jones were held out of practice Thursday with respiratory conditions.