More rain forces Santa Anita to cancel again Saturday

Santa Anita has canceled racing Saturday due to a rain storm in the forecast.

The track alerted horsemen of the cancellation via a text message Saturday morning. The track will add a make-up day on Jan. 15 and officials will announce further plans for bringing back races carded for Saturday later Saturday morning.

The National Weather Service forecast for Arcadia, California predicts a 100% chance of rain, with between a quarter inch and a half inch of new precipitation during the day. The overnight forecast calls for a 90% chance of rain and another one half to three quarters of an inch of rain. Rain remains likely into Sunday as well, with another tenth to a quarter of an inch of new precipitation forecast during the day.

According to a Saturday news release from Santa Anita, the track will decide early Sunday morning whether that day's racing will proceed or not.

Saturday's card at Santa Anita featured ten races. One was at the stakes level: the Santa Ynez, a 10-5-3-2-1 point prep for the Kentucky Oaks. The Santa Ynez drew a field of five including the three-strong Bob Baffert brigade of Explora, Himika and Toaster.

The winter meet at Santa Anita has been plagued by rain-related cancellations. Opening day was delayed to last Sunday due to rainy weather forecast for Dec. 26, the track's traditional winter start date. Racing was also not conducted Wednesday or Thursday due to rain, and the track has already scheduled a make-up day this Thursday to run some of the races that were cancelled on those days. That card will be drawn Saturday.