Yes, the whole situation is very frustrating. I'm not really pissed off. They tried to do it right. They didn't try to cut corners. They spent $11 million which is much more than Hollywood Park spent. Everyone had good intentions. It just hasn't worked out so far at Santa Anita.

The only one I really blame is Cushion Track. They botched the job. They obviously did not do the proper testing. I wonder if they did any testing at all.

If they abolish racing all over the world, all the pretty horsies will be safe.

So let me see if I understand this right. These all weather tracks work really great as long as there is no weather??

I'm sure we'll find out "B" this afternoon.....stay tuned! :)

It's friday morning and it rained all night. I would think that with much more rain the track would float away, yes that's plan B let nature remove the cushion track so we can repair the drainage.

Won't be racing at SA today. Decision for Saturday by 10am tomorrow...

They should cancel Saturday now. This is one of the biggest bloopers in sports history.

Rain is supposed to end today though, with clearing through tomorrow. The hope is that they can scrape the top couple of "mushy" inches off the 'sealed' Cushion and have a good surface to run on underneath. That was the intent of sealing the track to begin with. If the rain stops and seems unlikely to return, they can get away with Saturday. Then Mon-Thurs they add the Pro-Ride Polymer Binders and start anew for the rest of the meet.

Taking 2 inches off the top may be as good of an idea as installing cushion track to begin with.

It's worth taking a shot. Hopefully it works!

There is a 60% chance of rain Saturday afternoon.

Is the Friday cancellation posted someplace? It's not on their website.

It will be posted soon.

Also, What will they do with the Magna 5? They need to put out alternative races for the SA races if those are cancelled.

It's not? Can they blame that on Cushion Track?

The webacm shows horses training on the traditional dirt training track while the "all weather" surface is idle.
I'm told a decision will be made about today's card at a 10am (Pacific) meeting. I expect them to cancel, but as of now, it has not be done.

All races today, Monday and next Thursday at Santa Anita are Cancelled

It is now...

http://www.santaanita.com/

Hi all, relatively new here. Been reading since October, finally posting.

An update from an ESPN production manager at SA I know:
Right now, they say they're running tomorrow. However, the track, as I understand it, is a MESS...I quote, "It looks like gravel".

The area is suppossed to be clear of rain until late tomorrow afternoon, and the track says they will be working on the track all day and night tonight. Apparently, although they have to more or less take the top two inches off the track, there's nothing to actually replace that with, is the issue.

Assuming the track claims it is race ready I still would hazard to guess a boatload of scratches and the jockeys possibly refusing to ride after seeing the track condition.

Hmmm.... Could this be the backup plan? Check out the live footage from Santa Anita.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zrUMcHRGBM

HRTV is saying they will be running tomorrow barring more rain. Said the "powers that be" have deemed the surface a go for tomorrow.

There suppost to get more rain tonight

It will be interesting to see if they open or not thats for sure.. I was just sitting here watching/listening to the news and they said a major storm was expected to move into California tomorrow.... Watching the webcam right now and see dump trucks as well as some sort of tractor. http://www.santaanita.com/track/webcam.php

If it wasn't such a big day, they probably wouldn't run. But considering that they have paid for the televison time and it's such a big day for Magna, they will do everything they can to run. They are going to be working on the track all night. I think there is better than a 50% chance that they will run. I can't even imagine how fast the track will be. In Summation ran 6 furlongs in 1:06 3/5 on Monday. The track could not have been any faster. Now they are talking about scraping the top two inches off the track. That means they will be two inches closer to the asphalt. I don't know how it could possibly be safe to run on that track. Maybe they will break 1:06 tomorrow for 6 furlongs. What a joke.
I am hoping that they cancel the races tomorrow and postpone those four Sunshine Million races until next week. But Magna is so gung-ho on running tomorrow no matter what, that I think there is a good chance that they will run. For anyone that has a horse in the million dollar race, it's a tough decision whether to run or to scratch. It's only once a year that you can run in a restricted race for a million dollar purse. But on the other hand, who wants to take the chance of getting their horse hurt running on that asphalt.

The water is still there

Arcadia area looks clear right now. Heavy rain/stroms to the north. Hopefully it holds off. Let's just hope the track is safe.

Track looks good on webcam right now... Course it's still dark.:cool:

It didn't rain at all last night, but that isn't saying much for a track that needs three days to dry out after a some rain. The sun has not been out much all week so I imagin the Turf coarse will be yeilding at best.

Santa Anita is in a no win situation today if they run. If one horse breaks down they have made the wrong choice.

How's it look on Prospect Hill??? :D

It was "old home" days @ Ripepi's last night, saw top handcappers; Tom P. and Umpire K.Thomas (had a big hit yesterday @ the big A) also Frank's buddy; John O. (the Raiders fan), the county supervisor from St.J and Amy's sister Sara was there (which was very interesting with the other person mention in attendance) A real popular spot on Friday nights :)

What are you doing for the Sunshine Million races today?????????

Would they cancel if a horse breaks down?

Once they make the descision to race, the only way they would cancel is if the jockeys refused to ride because it was too dangerous.

If you look at Santa Anita's webcam, the track actually looks good....now that is a web cam so it could still be hilarious but take it for what it is worth......

I knew the track would look fine. Looks can be deceiving. They scraped off the wet part. They scraped off the top two inches. As I said before, there was not enough cushion before. They ran 6 furlongs in 1:06 3/5 on Monday. The track was way too hard. If it was too hard then, can you imagine how hard it will be now. It will be even harder now because there is two inches less cushion, They are two inches closer to the asphalt. I thought the track was dangerous before. It has to be even worse today.