The New York Racing Association cancelled the remainder of Thursday's card at Saratoga–seven races in total–after the day's fourth race due to severe thunderstorms. The unexpected precipitation rolled in as the horses were approaching the gate for the fourth, a 1 3/8-mile maiden special weight event on turf, which was run in a driving rainstorm and won wire-to-wire by Tide of the Sea (English Channel).
Initially, the remainder of the day's grass events were moved to the main track, but following a lengthy delay due to track maintenance as horses were in the paddock for the fifth race, officials decided to cancel the rest of the card.
“Due to adverse track conditions caused by extremely heavy rainfall, live racing was cancelled in the best interests of the safety of our equine athletes and horsemen,” NYRA said in a statement.
The last cancellation due to rainfall at Saratoga came on GI Whitney S. day last August, when the final two races on the card were cancelled. Live racing resumes Friday at the Spa with a 10-race card, highlighted by the Curlin S. First post is 1 p.m.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
