Santa Anita cancels Saturday, Sunday racing because of rain

With heavy rain forecast for this weekend, Santa Anita has canceled live racing for Saturday and Sunday. A makeup card will be added next Thursday, with entries to be taken on Saturday. According to the National Weather Service, rain is expected to arrive in the area Friday evening and remain throughout the weekend.

Thursday's makeup card will include both the Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes on turf, which was scheduled for Saturday, and the American Stakes (G3) on turf that was set to be run this Sunday. In addition to Thursday's card, Santa Anita plans to run extra races Friday through Sunday. All races in the condition book for this weekend will be offered back next week.

Next Thursday's card will start a four-day race week at Santa Anita, which is highlighted by the Santa Anita Derby (G1) card on Saturday. In addition to the Santa Anita Derby, which is a major prep for the Kentucky Derby, the card also will include the Santa Anita Oaks (G2), a major prep for the Kentucky Oaks (G1); the Monrovia Stakes (G3) on the hillside turf course; and a pair of California-bred stakes, the Echo Eddie Stakes for 3-year-olds and Evening Jewel for 3-year-old fillies, both at six furlongs on dirt.

As a result of the cancellations, no coast-to-coast Pick 5 wagers will be offered this weekend. 1/ST Racing was scheduled to seed Saturday's coast-to-coast pool with an additional $100,000. That now will take place with the coast-to-coast Pick 5 on Sunday, April 7.

Next weekend's Santa Anita Derby card will be drawn on Wednesday.