There will be no live racing at Aqueduct until Saturday, as the New York Racing Association announced Monday afternoon that racing programs scheduled Wednesday through Friday have been canceled due to a forecast that calls for extreme cold temperatures and low wind-chill values.
Coming off frigid temperatures and a Sunday snowstorm that dumped nearly a foot of snow in Queens, N.Y., temperatures Wednesday through Friday will struggle to get into the low 20s, with wind chills in the single digits.
Racing wasn’t conducted last weekend due to extreme cold on Saturday and Sunday's snow. The eight-race race program that was scheduled for Wednesday consisted of the races that were in the condition book for last Sunday. There were eight races carded for Thursday. Entries for Friday were to have been taken on Tuesday.
Training was canceled at Belmont Park Saturday through Monday, though the training track was expected to open Tuesday at 7 a.m. for four hours of training.
NYRA has applied to the New York State Gaming Commission to add Feb. 4, a Wednesday, as a racing day. Additional make-up dates may be applied for at a later time.
The $135,000 Ladies Stakes, originally scheduled for Jan. 17 and subsequently moved to Friday, will now be brought back for Saturday. As previously announced, the $135,000 Interborough Stakes, scheduled for Jan. 24, will be brought back Feb. 6.
NYRA will bring back races carded for Wednesday and Thursday as extras for Feb. 1 and beyond. The races currently offered in the condition book for Friday will be used for the proposed Feb. 4 program, with entries to be taken on Thursday.
Entries for Saturday’s card are to be taken on Tuesday. In addition to the twice-postponed Ladies Stakes, Saturday’s program is scheduled to include the $200,000 Withers Stakes, which offers 3-year-olds qualifying points toward the May 2 Kentucky Derby; the $150,000 Toboggan Stakes for male sprinters; and the $135,000 Ruthless Stakes for 3-year-old filly sprinters.
Aqueduct will be open for simulcasting Thursday and Friday, but not on Wednesday.
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