Santa Anita cancels Thursday’s card

Santa Anita canceled racing for today because of continuing rain and poor track conditions, and track officials are not optimistic about resuming racing until Saturday, at the earliest.

“It’s just torrential downpours, and the track can’t handle the amount of rain expected,” Santa Anita President Ron Charles said. “The track is draining, just not as fast as we had hoped.”

Santa Anita has announced it will remove its Pro-Ride synthetic surface at the conclusion of the winter meeting that ends April 18. A return to a dirt surface is being seriously considered.

Santa Anita has suffered problems with drainage since it put in its original Cushion Track synthetic surface in 2007 under a state mandate from the California Horse Racing Board.

If Santa Anita had its old dirt track, it would have been able to seal the surface and possibly race during poor weather conditions.

Santa Anita canceled its Monday card. The good news is that the track hopes to make up races by adding races to its daily cards once racing resumes.

The track will be open today for simulcast wagering. A decision on whether to race Friday will be made this morning.