ARCADIA, Calif. – Unrelenting rain in California, close to 10 inches at Santa Anita, continues to disrupt track condition and training schedules. For the second time in a week, Santa Anita has canceled an entire program. Friday’s nine-race card was canceled, which follows the weather-related cancellation of last Sunday’s card. Santa Anita made the latest cancellation announcement Wednesday morning. The races that were scheduled for Friday could be brought back next week, with the addition of a card on Thursday, Feb. 15. While the postponement of races is frustrating, it is not as problematic as the interruptions to normal training routines. The main track has been closed for training since Saturday. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports “We had discussions pretty much all day [Tuesday] about different scenarios,” racing secretary Jason Egan said. “We got feedback from trainers that did not feel comfortable with their horses being in barns Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and now Wednesday, and expected to run Friday.” The main track at Santa Anita was closed Monday through Wednesday due to rain. Although the track was scheduled to reopen for joggers on Thursday, an unkind weather forecast could complicate plans. The rain stopped by Wednesday morning, but the forecast called for the chance of rain later in the day. That would further muddle the picture and potentially disrupt the weekend. Last week’s cancellation of the Sunday card forced a pair of Grade 3 races to be rescheduled for this Saturday – the Las Virgenes for 3-year-old fillies and San Marcos for older turf horses. Due to the current unavailability of the infield training track while a synthetic surface is being installed, the main track is the only option. Horsemen have been unable to train since last Saturday. Six of the nine races that were scheduled for Friday were leftovers from the Sunday cancellation. Egan expects the races can be brought back for next Thursday, assuming Santa Anita adds racing on Feb. 15. It was originally scheduled to be a dark day. “Moving it to Thursday, obviously we cannot control long-term weather, but it looks good right now,” Egan said. “It gives these guys a little bit more time to train and maybe, if they need to, go a little three-eighths and blow that horse out over the weekend.” If the Friday races are moved to next Thursday, the racing office is required to redraw the entire card. Stewards consider it a change in conditions. Egan said “we have to redraw again.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.