With rain now falling, NYRA has made the decision to cancel racing on Friday
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED 11:00PM Thursday 8/8:
As rain moves into our region in advance of the remnants of Hurricane Debby, the New York Racing Association has made two decisions.
Friday's race card has been cancelled, and the Saturday Grade 1's have been moved to Sunday. The two stakes races scheduled for Friday, the Union Avenue and the Evan Shipman, will be rescheduled.
Heavy rain and high winds are forecasted from the leftover tropical system on Friday, creating unsafe conditions for the horses and the jockeys. The New York Racing Association announces that tickets that were purchased for Friday's racing will be refunded or credited towards a future date, and there will be no tours or the Breakfast at Saratoga program offered.
In addition, the Saturday Grade 1 turf stakes, consisting of the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby and the Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap will be rescheduled for the final two races on Sunday. At this time the remaining races on the Saturday program are scheduled, but could see a surface switch to the main dirt. Those include the Troy Stakes and the Galway Stakes.
The Saratoga Derby was already moved once before, originally carded for last Saturday's program before rains from last Friday's wet weather resulted in NYRA to move the race to this Saturday. The Troy Stakes was also moved, but will not be moved again and will instead be moved to the dirt track at the same distance of 5 1/2 Furlongs if conditions force the surface change.
Since making landfall in the Gulf of Mexico, the remnants of Debby has been moving up the Atlantic coast and will arrive in our region Thursday night. Flood Watches are already posted for Central New York, the Mohawk Valley and into the Adirondacks as inches of rain could fall as a result of the storm. At the time of this writing, no Flood Watches have been posted for the Glens Falls and Capital Region areas. Rain could be heaviest Friday night into Saturday, which would cause unsafe conditions on the grass turf surface at Saratoga Race Course.
The New York Racing Association, who oversees the racing at Saratoga Race Course, will continue to monitor the weather forecasts.
