Santa Anita cancels Thursday card

With six to eight inches of rain expected in the next 24 hours, Santa Anita

officials announced Wednesday morning that live racing for Thursday would be

canceled. Santa Anita will be open for simulcast wagering on races run

throughout America.

"We are in the midst of a severe weather system right now," Santa Anita

President Ron Charles said. "The Weather Service has told us that this is the

heaviest rain we've had in this area in the past five years. Since Sunday

afternoon, we've been hit with a lot of rain. As we know, this system of storms

has resulted in mudslides and evacuations in our neighboring hillside

communities and it's just something that we're hoping to be able to get through

very soon.

"For now, we're going to evaluate the main track on a day-by-day basis and

safety is of course our number one priority. We've made the decision to cancel

live racing for Thursday and we'll take a look at our prospects for Friday

tomorrow morning.

"We realize that by canceling on Thursday that a lot of people are being

impacted and we want everyone to know that we're doing everything we possibly

can to become operational again. In the interim, we will be open for simulcast

racing as originally scheduled."

Gates will open for simulcast wagering at Santa Anita on Thursday at 10:30

a.m. (PST).

Monday's live racing card at the Arcadia, California, venue was also canceled

due to wet track conditions and the certainty of continued heavy rain throughout

the afternoon. The San Marcos H. (G2), which attracted a field of nine runners

and was scheduled to be run as Monday's 7TH race at 1 1/4 miles on turf, will be

redrawn and run Sunday.

Santa Anita's winter/spring meeting runs through April 18.