Santa Anita cancels January 27-28; timeline set for
remedial work
Santa Anita, once again lashed by storms, canceled live racing on Sunday and
“There was just too much water on the track, and the forecast calls for heavy
Live racing is expected to resume Thursday. The Santa Monica H. (G1), which
“The forecast is very good for the week ahead and we are optimistic we’ll be
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The synthetic Cushion Track has been beset by drainage problems, wreaking
havoc with the Winter/Spring meet. The January 5, 6 and 7 cards were rained out,
and then a deluge of rain and hail forced the
cancellation of last Thursday’s and Friday’s cards. Only a break in the
weather, and Herculean efforts by the maintenance crew, got the track into shape
for this past Saturday’s Sunshine Millions card.
To remedy the drainage issues, a polymer binder manufactured by the
Australian firm Pro-Ride will be added to the Cushion Track. Charles gave an
update on the timeline for this remedial work, which is set to begin after the
races are over on February 3.
“We will be working on the track Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, regulating
the track in preparation of putting in the Pro-Ride polymer binders,” Charles
said. “We will resume racing Thursday and expect to continue Friday, Saturday
and Sunday.
“After Sunday’s races, Ian Pearse (managing director of Pro-Ride) will begin
working on it, and his best estimate is it will take four days to install, and
as soon as he’s done, we believe we will know whether we will be racing (the
following) Friday or Saturday (February 8-9),” Charles said.
Charles added that if this timeline holds, live racing would be canceled next
Monday, February 4.
Charles emphasized the significance of having the polymer binder applied so
that the Cushion Track will drain properly and allow racing to be conducted as
normal through the end of the meet on April 20.
“All the material is here,” Charles said, “and we just can’t take a chance of
putting it down and the track not being consistent. It is such an important
process. Everyone who has seen it — the trainers, the jockeys — are so
optimistic that this will absolutely not only fix our drainage problem, but give
us a kinder, safer race track without the hardness we had before. It’s worth
waiting one more week.
“We realize a lot of people are being inconvenienced by the changes we have
had to make,” Charles said. “The owners and trainers, along with our fans, are
right at the top of the list. We will make every effort possible to reschedule
stakes, such as the Santa Monica, in a fair and timely manner. We have been in
consultation with the CHRB (California Horse Racing Board) regarding the races
and dates we’ve had to cancel and we’re confident we will be able to make up
most of, and likely all, of these dates and races at this meet. Once we are able
to get to work amending the main track, we are very hopeful we can get back on
schedule and get back to business as usual here.”
Horsemen based at Santa Anita are doing their best in trying circumstances.
“Most days lately, we’ve only had the option of training on the (six-furlong
traditional dirt) training track,” said Ted H. West, who has 20 horses. “We try
to pick a day when the training track is good and maybe sneak in a work. Right
now, nobody has any idea when we’re going to be able to train again on the main
track. It’s touch and go all the way. We just have to make do with what we have.
That’s our only option right now. It’s either that or keep them in the stall.
“Horses have to get out every day, pretty much,” West continued. “I’ll give
them some light days when the weather makes us, but you have to get them out
eventually, especially if you have a race you’re pointing to. You can only
afford to miss so much training. If you don’t get them out, they’ll get too
sharp or too unfit, or both.”
“It’s been a little makeshift these last couple weeks, like today, I didn’t
even track anything,” said Mike Machowsky, who likewise has 20 horses. “I just
tack-walked because we had so much rain last night. I figured we could get good
weather later this week, so why chance it? Usually, when we get bad storms,
we’ll go light on training for one day and maybe gallop them. It kind of depends
on what the horse has coming up or what he’s done recently. Hopefully, we’ll get
a break in the weather the next few days and get back to normal.”