NO Racing Friday at SA
 

Carryover moved to Sat.......glad I wasted 3 hrs capping. I am done with that place. I am heading to Cancun on Sat morning so gonna miss it anyway.

I don't think it's even a sure thing that they will race Saturday. I talked to one of our vets about an hour ago and she told me that the renovation is not even close to being finished yet. She told me that she wasn't sure that they would even be ready by Saturday.

The press release from SA:


ARCADIA, Calif. (Feb. 7, 2008)—Santa Anita Park announced today that live racing will be cancelled Friday (tomorrow) due to a one-day delay in the last phase of its main track renovation. However, racing is set to resume on Saturday, with a Pick Six carryover of $181,514 awaiting fans, as well as two Grade I stakes. Friday’s nine race card will be redrawn and used on the meet’s first make-up day, next Wednesday, February 13th.

According to Ian Pearse, founder of Australian based Pro-Ride, whose synthetic polymer and binder is being blended into the troubled Cushion Track synthetic surface, the initial timeline of starting last Sunday and completing on Thursday was jeopardized because the track was still wet from Sunday’s rain, which force cancellation of live racing on Sunday.

“We expected to make substantial progress starting late Sunday,” said Pearse. “We began amending the track, but the uneven drainage left it very wet in places and drier in others. The binder and polymer application is the most crucial piece of the renovation puzzle, and it cannot be done properly unless the surface is consistent, which delayed the initial application of the polymer until Monday.”

Santa Anita President Ron Charles said, “We know and deeply regret that the lost days have inconvenienced many horsemen and fans. At this point, as painful as it is to everyone to miss another day, an extra 24 hours is absolutely necessary to make sure that we allow Pro-Ride the time to complete this massive project according to their exact specifications. Our track crews have been working from 7:00 a.m. until after midnight every day, and will continue to do so until we get this finished.

“We will definitely race on Saturday,” said Charles. “Ian agrees, and is very confident that the process is going well now. The portions of track that have been completed so far are as good as we expected. We have become increasingly encouraged that this new surface is going to be what we had hoped—a good, consistent and kind surface that we all believe will drain properly for the rest of the meet.”

Santa Anita will remain open for simulcast wagering through Friday, with free General Admission offered to all attendees.

Santa Anita has two Grade I stakes scheduled for Saturday, the $250,000 Las Virgenes Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at one mile, and the $250,000 Santa Maria Handicap for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles. First post time for Saturday is 12:30 p.m.

Santa Anita’s winter/spring meeting runs through April 20.

Lucky you!! Have a great time in Cancun! :) Never been there myself, but you'll have to let us know how it went..

With the garbage they were running on Friday we all got a break to let a more desirable card be the day SA comes back roaring. Saturday will be a great day of racing that will begin the end of this incredible nightmare allowing us all
to finally enjoy the rest of the meet

they worked on it today..i got drf note on a w horse..

Has to be $50k in ink n' paper wasted(from people buying and printing forms for Friday.)Should of had this info. out earlier than this.) This is getting old.

Thinking out loud here.

Wouldn't it be smart for Santa Anita to run a trail race before the real races start. Something at like 10am with eight 8k claimers, put the purse at 10k and give no entry fees or anything, as a test for the jocks and this Pearse guy to see the action of the horse over it.

I don't know, could be real stupid but they are spending all this money again and why not take another 10k into the investment and test it....I am sure there are some owners that would run for the 6k 1st place.

And after that trial race goes in 1:07 2/5 the Santa anita brass will be shaking hands and nodding in approval that the track is just where they want it to be.

Actually, there is a place (I think it is called El Caliente) in Cancun where you can bet on Horse Racing and Sports.

REally? El Caliente? I am googling that right now.....I land at like 2:30, so plenty o time for placing a wager....Thanks all.

cant find El Caliente on-line.....darn

How long does it take to get from one side of that peninsula to the other?

all the " off track " wagering facilities in mexico are called caliente...... they have them on every corner in t.j

I checked for OTB when there for 2007 Breeders Cup, unable to find any type of legal gambling in the Cancun area.