[Kasept]

The press release from SA:


ARCADIA, Calif. (Feb. 7, 2008)—Santa Anita Park announced today that live racing will be cancelled Friday (tomorrow) due to a one-day delay in the last phase of its main track renovation. However, racing is set to resume on Saturday, with a Pick Six carryover of $181,514 awaiting fans, as well as two Grade I stakes. Friday’s nine race card will be redrawn and used on the meet’s first make-up day, next Wednesday, February 13th.

According to Ian Pearse, founder of Australian based Pro-Ride, whose synthetic polymer and binder is being blended into the troubled Cushion Track synthetic surface, the initial timeline of starting last Sunday and completing on Thursday was jeopardized because the track was still wet from Sunday’s rain, which force cancellation of live racing on Sunday.

“We expected to make substantial progress starting late Sunday,” said Pearse. “We began amending the track, but the uneven drainage left it very wet in places and drier in others. The binder and polymer application is the most crucial piece of the renovation puzzle, and it cannot be done properly unless the surface is consistent, which delayed the initial application of the polymer until Monday.”

Santa Anita President Ron Charles said, “We know and deeply regret that the lost days have inconvenienced many horsemen and fans. At this point, as painful as it is to everyone to miss another day, an extra 24 hours is absolutely necessary to make sure that we allow Pro-Ride the time to complete this massive project according to their exact specifications. Our track crews have been working from 7:00 a.m. until after midnight every day, and will continue to do so until we get this finished.

“We will definitely race on Saturday,” said Charles. “Ian agrees, and is very confident that the process is going well now. The portions of track that have been completed so far are as good as we expected. We have become increasingly encouraged that this new surface is going to be what we had hoped—a good, consistent and kind surface that we all believe will drain properly for the rest of the meet.”

Santa Anita will remain open for simulcast wagering through Friday, with free General Admission offered to all attendees.

Santa Anita has two Grade I stakes scheduled for Saturday, the $250,000 Las Virgenes Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at one mile, and the $250,000 Santa Maria Handicap for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles. First post time for Saturday is 12:30 p.m.

Santa Anita’s winter/spring meeting runs through April 20.