The Aqueduct meeting is less than two weeks old, and already we had the first of what figures to be many weather-related cancellations over the next six months (assuming racing continues at the Big A after NYRA’s franchise expires Dec. 31). The jockeys refused to ride yesterday, blaming high wind gusts caused by the remnants of Hurricane Noel.
Racing secretary P.J. Campo asked them to give it a go for the first few races, and NYRA planned to move up the post times to shorten the card. But about a half-hour before the first race, the riders voted to cancel, sighting possibly unsafe conditions.
“Right now, it’s borderline, and it’s expected to get worse,” jockey John Velazquez said on his way out the door. “It’s supposed to go to 40 miles per hour. The problem is, we don’t want to start and then cancel in the middle of the card. We might as well be safe.”
Yesterday’s feature, the Grade 3, $150,000 Long Island Handicap on turf for fillies and mares, will be run next Sunday.
Racing will resume today, with post time moving to 12:30 p.m. for the remainder of the meet, except for Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22, when first post is 11:25 a.m.
Today’s feature is the Grade 3, $100,000 Turnback the Alarm Handicap for fillies and mares at a mile-and-an-eighth on the main track.
Sugar Shake, a 4-year-old trained by Bobby Frankel, is favored at 9-5 on the morning line in a field of six, despite not having won a race in nearly nine months.