Santa Anita’s new racing surface has sustained more than nine inches of rain from Friday through dawn on Tuesday, leading to the cancellation of main track training on Tuesday for the third time in four days.
With further rain expected through Wednesday, the rain total from a series of Pacific storms is likely to reach 11 or 12 inches, according to track superintendent Richard Tedesco, who closely monitors the weather.
Tedesco said if the forecast is accurate, and rain stops late Wednesday, that the sand and clay track should respond quickly to maintenance, allowing for limited training on Thursday and wider use on Friday. The Santa Anita meet begins on Sunday.
“They’re telling us two to three [inches of rain] could hit us from Tuesday night into Wednesday,” Tedesco said. “Thursday, we’re looking at the start of a clearing trend and that will bring us better weather on Friday. We should have sun. We’ll probably have a ton of works on Friday.”
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