Calder's postponed stakes canceled; purse money redistributed

Calder's postponed stakes canceled; purse money

redistributed

Calder Race Course will not reschedule the two stakes races postponed earlier

this month and will instead allocate portions of the purse money to its

remaining 2009 overnight schedule. The $100,000 Tropical Turf H. (G3) and

$100,000 My Charmer H. (G3) were originally scheduled for December 5, but were

postponed because of a quarantine restricting travel in and out of the Calder

stable area.

The overall quarantine that limited travel in and out of Calder was lifted on

Monday, but three barns remain under restriction until December 21 due to a

horse in one of those barns being diagnosed with the highly contagious Equine

Herpes Virus (EHV-1) disease. No other horses at Calder have been diagnosed with

EHV-1 since.

Calder will repurpose a portion of purse money planned for the Tropical Turf

and the My Charmer to additional overnight racing opportunities during the

remainder of the 2009 Tropical Meet. The decision to reallocate the purse money

was supported by the leadership of the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent &

Protective Association (FHBPA).

Calder has four stakes races remaining on its schedule: the $150,000 W. L.

McKnight H. (G2), $100,000 Stage Door Betty H. (G3), and $100,000 Kenny Noe Jr.

H. (G3) -- all on Dec. 26; and the $100,000 Tropical Park Derby (G3) on January

1. The final day of the Tropical Meet is January 2.