Keeneland Cancels Last Four Races Opening Day
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As a heavy deluge of rain hit Keeneland and the Lexington area April 3, racetrack officials called off the last four races on the opening-day card because of inclement weather.
Members of the Keeneland communications department said they couldn't recall, and have no record of, an instance of cancellation in the 78-year history of the track.
The $100,000 Transylvania Stakes (gr. IIIT), which already had scratched down to a seven-horse field from 13 original starters after the race was moved off the turf before the start of the card, was rescheduled for April 15.
Lexington remained under a flash-flood warning and tornado watch after six of the day's 10 races were run on a sloppy track. More than four inches of rain hit the Bluegrass region and surrounding areas Thursday evening and intermittently throughout Friday.
"The safety of our patrons, our jockeys, and the horses is our No. 1 priority," Keeneland president and chief executive officer Bill Thomason said. "We made the decision to cancel the remainder of the day's card given the strong storms moving through the area over the next several hours."
For payout and refund information on races 7-10, click here.
Earlier in the day the track moved College Scholarship Day participants to the sale pavilion to keep them sheltered from the rain. All 10 of the $1,000 scholarships were awarded, and after canceling the last four races, the track was in the process of notifying the winners who would have been presented their scholarships following races seven through 10.
Keeneland will resume racing April 4 with an 11-race program that begins at 12:35 p.m. EDT.