After overnight rain, Saratoga is off the turf for opening day

After overnight rain fell at Saratoga, the entire opening-day card Thursday will be run on the main track with five turf races being moved to the dirt.

“Today’s grass races are off the turf,” a New York Racing Association text to horsemen said at 7:25 a.m. EDT. “Race 2 will run at 10 furlongs. Races 8 and 11 will run at one mile.”

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Early this week rain loomed as a certainty in the original forecast for Thursday, and it came and went before dawn. Weather Underground reported seven-tenths of an inch came down after 2 a.m. EDT.

The updated National Weather Service forecast posted Thursday morning for Saratoga said there was a 20 percent chance of showers before 9 a.m. EDT. Then a partly sunny day was forecast with a high of 86 degrees with a southwest wind 7-10 mph.

Saratoga’s 156th season of summer racing begins Thursday at 1:10 p.m. EDT. The $175,000 Schuylerville Stakes, a six-furlong offering for 2-year-old fillies, is the traditional feature of opening day and is scheduled at 6:16 p.m. EDT as the 10th of 11 races.

The forecast for Friday, when five races including the Coronation Cup are scheduled for the turf, is for dry, partly sunny conditions with a high near 85 and southwest wind 5-7 mph.

Saturday, when the Grade 1 Diana Stakes on the turf is the feature, the National Weather Service predicted a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m. EDT. Otherwise it forecast a mostly sunny day with a high near 88 and calm wind becoming southwesterly to 5 mph in the afternoon.

Opening weekend ends Sunday with what is expected to be a hot, sunny day and a high near 90.

The 40-day meet last year had 65 races taken off the turf compared with 16 in 2022.