Santa Anita Cancels Races After Storm

As the rain subsided at Santa Anita Park March 11 following a short but heavy rainstorm, track officials announced the final three races of the Friday card would be canceled because of concerns expressed by the jockeys about standing water on the dirt main track.



Included in the canceled races was the $75,000 San Pedro Stakes, which Santa Anita racing secretary Rick Hammerle said could be rescheduled as soon as next week.



"It was just the standing water on it. With the big day tomorrow, it's best to stop now and make sure we're set," said Joe Morris, senior vice president of West Coast operations for The Stronach Group, referencing the 11-race card March 12 that features the Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) and the San Felipe (gr. II).



Morris, who estimated the Arcadia, Calif. track experienced an inch of rain in a span of about an hour and 15 minutes, said he was not concerned with the dirt track's condition for Saturday, but did express some worry about how the turf course might handle the saturation. Four turf races are scheduled for Saturday, including the Frank E. Kilroe Mile (gr. IT).



"We should be good for tomorrow. We've got no more rain coming," Morris said. "I'm more concerned with the turf. The dirt will be in good shape. We'll see how the turf dries."



An incident in the sixth race immediately preceded the decision to cancel the final three races of the day. Early in the sixth race, a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight event that was taken off the turf and reassigned to the main track, Reddam Racing's Jamie Said No appeared to be startled early in the contest and unseated jockey Mario Gutierrez.

Gutierrez walked onto an ambulance under his own power after the fall, but Santa Anita employees huddled around the area where he fell while the jockeys met with track officials in the jockey's room.