AQUEDUCT Unsettled weather keeps stakes in limbo

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A forecast that calls for more frigid temperatures later this week and through the weekend is making it complicated for New York Racing Association officials to reschedule five stakes races lost due to the cancellation of more than three racing programs last week.

The most significant stakes race canceled due to brutally cold temperatures was the $150,000 Jerome Stakes, the first of four races at Aqueduct that offers qualifying points to the May 5 Kentucky Derby. That race was scheduled fo r Monday, one of three full cards NYRA was forced to cancel in a five-day span due to the cold.

The Jerome will not be brought back until Jan. 11 at the earliest, said Martin Panza, senior vice president for racing operations for NYRA. Panza said he does not want to reschedule that race or the other stakes on days when it is possible there will be a cancellation.

“We’re going to get to them,” Panza said Monday. “Right now, the forecast for [this] week does not look good. I don’t want to card them back and cancel them again. We ask the horsemen to be patient. When we get a weather pattern where we think we’re okay, we’ll put them in place. We’ll give the horsemen a week’s notice or as much notice as we can.”

Last week, Dale Romans shipped Seven Trumpets from south Florida to Aqueduct to run in the Jerome. Romans said he intends to leave the horse in New York for the time being.

“They’ll run it one of these days,” he said. “We’ll wait and see what happens.”

Saturday’s card includes the $100,000 La Verdad Stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares at seven furlongs. If Saturday’s card is canceled, that would be a sixth stakes NYRA would have to reschedule. Other stakes races lost last week were the East View, Damon Runyon, Alex M. Robb, and Bay Ridge, all $100,000 races restricted to New Yorkbreds. It had been previously announced that the East View is being brought back for Sunday, entries for which will be taken Thursday.

NYRA is hopeful of resuming racing on Thursday – entries for which were taken Saturday – and while temperatures are expected to moderate that day there is the potential for snow and high winds Thereafter, the New York City area is back in the deep freeze with temperatures forecast in the teens Friday and single digits Saturday with subzero wind-chills.

Last Saturday, NYRA was forced to cancel the final five races after the jockeys refused to ride due to concerns over uneven spots on the main track. This is the first time in 40 years the main track is being used for winter racing. The main track has a chute that joins up with the main track at the 6 1/2-furlong marker.

“There’s going to be a transition spot,” Panza said. “There are tractors coming out of that chute. We have to harrow the chute when it’s freezing otherwise the chute’s going to freeze. Those tractors have to turn somewhere. At that transition point you have a little bit of fluff there and they could feel that hump or fluff. With snow in the surface that day and it being cold, the track swells up a little bit more and it’s a little bit more pronounced. That’s what they were probably feeling.”

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. has already announced his intention to move his tack to Gulfstream Park this winter following Thursday’s card.

Irad Ortiz tops ‘17 standings

Though the year came to a premature end with the cancellation of Sunday’s card, it had no impact on who the leaders were in several categories at New York Racing Association tracks in 2017.

Irad Ortiz Jr. led all jockeys on this circuit in victories with 296, more than 100 wins ahead of runner-up Manny Franco (184), Jose Ortiz (181), John Velazquez (121), and Javier Castellano (119). Irad Ortiz Jr., who also led all riders in wins in 2014 and 2015, also led in purse money won in 2017 with $19,767,044.

For the third straight year, Chad Brown led all trainers in wins at NYRA tracks with 148. He also led in purse money won with $15,882,960. Rudy Rodriguez was second in wins with 121, followed by Linda Rice (113), Todd Pletcher (104), and Bill Mott (61).

Michael Dubb, who owns horses with various partners, was the leading owner in wins with 72. He was followed by Klaravich Stables (43), David Jacobson (35), Chester and Mary Broman (35), and Midwest Thoroughbreds (29). Dubb’s horses earned $4,922,444 to lead all owners in that category.