Turfway Park cancels Friday and Saturday, postpones Leonatus

Turfway Park will go ahead with its Wednesday and Thursday cards, but with even colder weather in forecast, management has called off live racing Friday and Saturday nights and postponed the running of the Leonatus Stakes, a track spokesperson said on social media.

“Due to the extreme cold temperatures on Friday and Saturday, Turfway Park will cancel live racing,” Kevin Kerstein said Wednesday in a post on X. “Wednesday and Thursday remain unchanged with first posts at 5:55 p.m. (EST). The Leonatus Stakes will be redrawn and carded (Friday) Feb. 2.”

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The National Weather Service predicted a low of 26 degrees for Wednesday with a southwest wind dying down to 8-13 mph. Thursday brings a likelihood for snow and a low around 22. The temperature is forecast to plunge to 8 degrees with a chance of snow showers Friday night and to 6 degrees under a clear sky Saturday.

The Leonatus, a one-mile, $125,000 race for 3-year-olds, was scheduled for Saturday night. Eleven horses were drawn into the steppingstone for subsequent Kentucky Derby points preps at the Florence, Ky., racecourse. Vote No, who won on the same all-weather track Jan. 6 in the 6 1/2-furlong Turfway Prevue Stakes, would have been the 3-1 morning-line favorite.

Churchill Downs Inc., which owns and operates Turfway, said, “The races carded for Friday and Saturday will be redrawn and added as extras for upcoming entry days.”

The bitter cold weather sweeping the eastern two-thirds of the country has forced the cancellation of no fewer than 14 race cards this week for Thoroughbreds and quarter horses at eight tracks, according to Equibase.