After delay, Turf Paradise will race on grass in February

Turf Paradise opened Monday, but you won’t find any turf races in the entries. They’re coming, though, in mid-February.

The Phoenix track’s opening was delayed by on-and-off talks for a possible sale, and that led to a delay in getting the grass surface ready for racing.

“Generally turf races November to May,” Turf Paradise general manager Vincent Francia told Horse Racing Nation on Wednesday. “And after the race meet concludes in May, we seed our turf course in June for the November opening.

“Well, we did not open in November. In fact, we did not green-light this meet until late in October. So that's when we planted the turf. So it's just a couple of months behind the regular growing season.”

Weather has been a factor too, Francia said.

“Phoenix has had cold weather – well, to us, it's cold – and that stunts grass growth. So we've been doing all kinds of things to try to stimulate that, over-seeding, injecting it with nitrogen. We're scheduled to go on the turf Feb. 15. There's a turf stake. So we should be returning to the grass at that time.”

That stakes is the Walter R. Cluer Memorial for 4-year-olds and up going 7 1/2 furlongs. Turf Paradise has eight other stakes slated for turf during the meet, which runs through May 4.