weather

Despite several cold and snowy weather-related cancellations, more race days and higher available and paid purses were amongst the positive economic trends year over year for the month of February. 230 race days (+5.02%) led to over $79,562,309 (+8.57%) of paid out purses last month spread over 2,001 races (+4.76%). Field size remained largely the same, dropping just slightly from 7.98 in 2025 to 7.78 this year while wagering was also down a bit from $771,126,687 to $756,813,375 (-1.86%). Average wagering per race day was the most noticeable decrease, with...

With winter weather on the way, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will move the live racing program scheduled for Sunday, January 25 at Aqueduct Racetrack to Wednesday, January 28, pending approval from the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC), the organization announced Wednesday. In a press release, NYRA says, "due to a winter storm with the potential to bring significant snowfall and arctic temperatures to the New York metropolitan area on Sunday, NYRA, the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) and New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB) have...

Santa Anita Park has canceled live racing Wednesday, Dec. 31 and Thursday, Jan. 1 because of a strengthening rainstorm coming in from the Pacific. The storm, which was forecast to hit on Thursday, has gathered strength and is now expected to impact Southern California around noon Wednesday. The two-day storm is expected to bring up to three inches of rain to the area surrounding Santa Anita Park. The canceled races will be rescheduled in the coming weeks with the first make-up day coming next Thursday, Jan. 8.

In response to winter weather cancellations earlier in December, Parx Racing, along with the PTHA and the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission, has added three Thursday race dates for January 2026, January 8, January 15, and January 22, the track announced Wednesday. "Winter racing always comes with challenges, and flexibility is critical," said David Osojnak, Parx Director of Racing. "Adding these January race days allows us to respond constructively to December's weather-related cancellations while continuing to support our program and  horsemen to deliver a consistent racing product. We try to help...

The live racing card at Woodbine set for Thursday, Dec. 11 will begin one hour earlier to accommodate the new card after the Dec. 4 program was cancelled following one race, Woodbine Entertainment has announced. The 10-race Thursday card will start the final week of live racing for the 2025 season at the venue, and will now kick off at 4:30pm local time. Cold weather bringing plenty of snow rolled through the area earlier in the week, and the cancellation was agreed upon by the Jockeys' Guild, the HBPA, and...

With more heavy rain in the forecast for southern California, Del Mar has canceled their Friday race card according to a social media post from the track. Additionally, Del Mar has carded an extra race day to be held Monday, Nov. 24. The shift will allow the main track additional time to dry while also enabling the use of the turf course on Sunday and Monday. Friday's cancellation marks the second day in as many weeks as the track also was forced to cancel the Nov. 15 card due to...

The New York Racing Association will card one additional day of live racing to be held Wednesday, November 12 as part of the fall meet at Aqueduct Racetrack, the track announced Tuesday. Following the cancellation of live racing on both Thursday, Oct. 30 and Friday, Oct. 31, NYRA, the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) and New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB) requested and received formal approval from the New York State Gaming Commission to conduct live racing November 12 at Aqueduct. NYRA will add additional races to cards throughout...

Sunday's live racing at Aqueduct has been called off ahead of a coastal storm due to impact the area, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) said Saturday. The day's featured race, the Carle Place Stakes, will be brought back one week later, Oct. 19 with entries to be taken Wednesday, Oct. 15. The National Weather Service has placed New York City and surrounding areas under a wind advisory beginning Sunday at noon, with current NWS forecasts calling for sustained winds of 25-35 mph with gusts up to 50 mph....

With 13 fewer races days compared to the same month last year, July saw most of its economic indicators down month over month. Some of the biggest changes occurred in available purses (-4.96%) and U.S. starts (-6.35%) with only average wagering per race day seeing a positive trend (+2.25%). The numbers were much the same when compared year-to-date with wagering (-2.56%), paid purses (-3.65%), race days (-4.19%), total races (-4.39%) and starts (-3.53%) all down while field size (+0.89%), average wagering per race day (+1.70%) and average available purses per...

The Saratoga meet has just gotten started and it's already appears that Mother Nature is ready for a nasty fight, one NYRA is going to have a hard time winning. On paper, Saturday's card looked excellent with the GII Bowling Green S. and the GI Diana S., plus three maiden 2-year-old races that included a lot of horse with a lot of potential. But the card was wrecked before it started, thanks to a deluge of rain Saturday morning. It came down hard and heavy for about an hour. They...

Woodbine will delay the starting post time for the Sunday, June 22 card to 4 p.m. due to extreme heat forecast in the Toronto area, the track announced Friday. The release notes that the decision was made to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of [the] horses and all racing participants, with approval from the AGCO and consultation with the HBPA. Throughout the weekend, Woodbine will put additional safety measures in place, including shorter post parades and increased water/hose access for all horses pre- and post-race. Saturday's first post remains unchanged...

Already postponed once for rain from May 30 to June 20, weather has yet again pushed the four turf stakes on GIII Penn Mile day another week out. In a press release Tuesday morning, Penn National stated that the four stakes in question, the Penn Mile, Penn Oaks, Alphabet Soup Stakes and Lyphard Stakes will be now be held Friday, June 27. The release reads: "With significant, persistent rainfall in the local forecast for the next several days, the four turf stakes races carded for Friday, June 20th at Hollywood...