Kentucky Downs has canceled Sunday’s card due to heavy rain falling in Franklin and will be rescheduled for Wednesday. (Photo credit: Kentucky Downs).
Kentucky Downs canceled its Sunday card and is moving the 10-race program to Wednesday after rain pelted the region.
“Unfortunately, due to the early morning rain showers and predicted showers throughout the day, we are canceling the card today,” said Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs senior vice president and general manager. We felt it wasn’t going to be safe for our riders and horses, and safety is our No. 1 priority. So we are moving the races from today to Wednesday.”
Refunds will be given to those with reserved-seating tickets who can’t make it to the track Wednesday.
With little rain overnight and no precipitation at the time, Kentucky Downs officials announced very early in Sunday morning that the track would run as scheduled. That changed two hours later when a deluge of rain hit.
“We apologize for the inconvenience, and we know there were horses in transit,” Nicholson said. “But with so many horses — as well as people from out of town — having shipped in already, we wanted to give it every chance to run. We were hoping the storm would miss us, as it did Saturday, and with our course being firm the day before and very little rain overnight, we felt there was a chance to run. Obviously that changed, and there is no sign that the rain is going to let up until this evening.
“The good news is that the forecast is good for Wednesday, as well as for our closing card on Thursday.”
Barbara Borden, Kentucky’s chief state steward, said entries will remain as is for Wednesday’s card, with no redrawing of the races. She said horsemen who scratched horses for Sunday will have the option of running Wednesday, and if they don’t want to run they’ll have to put in a new scratch. That means horses who drew in off the also-eligible list for Sunday will still need scratches to run Wednesday, she said.
“It’s as if the entries just came out,” Borden said.
The new scratch time for Wednesday will be announced.
Wednesday’s card will feature the $400,000 Exacta Systems Dueling Grounds Derby, the $300,000 Fifth Third Insurance Dueling Grounds Oaks and four $100,000 starter-allowance races serving as preps for the Dec. 1 Claiming Crown at Gulfstream Park.
