Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs cancelled live racing Monday because of snow and ice that fell across most of Arkansas after midnight Sunday, forcing track officials to scrap one of Oaklawn's biggest business days and reschedule one of its important races, the $300,000 Grade III Southwest Stakes.
Monday's cancellation is the fourth day Oaklawn has lost since the beginning of the 2015 live season, scheduled for 57 days.
Oaklawn also lost its opening weekend, Jan. 9-11, because of inclement weather.
It marks the third time since 2006 Oaklawn has had to cancel the holiday program on George Washington's birthday. The last time was in 2010, when the card was stopped after four races because of cold weather.
Both times, the Southwest was pushed back to the following Saturday.
David Longinotti, Oaklawn's director of racing, said Monday that the Southwest will be raced either Saturday or Sunday, depending on when the track is reopened for training, with the possibility of extreme cold and more wintery precipitation as the principle determining factor.
If horses are able to return to the track today, the Southwest, with an expected field off 11, will held Saturday. If not, the race will be rescheduled for Sunday.
The schedule change will impact plans as trainers attempt to move their horses forward along the trail to the Triple Crown, but Longinotti said horsemen understand the need for flexibility.
"I think most horsemen are kind of used to plans not working exactly as set up at first," he said. "It's very rare that you get an absolutely smooth trip through a 2- or 3-year-old campaign if you're hoping to get to the Triple Crown."
Ron Moquett, trainer of Smarty Jones Stakes winner Far Right, who was the 3-1 morning-line favorite for the Southwest, said he held a "pity party" after he learned the Southwest was postponed and then fell asleep in his chair.
"It's like being a farmer or a construction worker or whatever. You have to be able to deal with setbacks and adversity and weather," Moquett said. "That happens in our business, just the same as it would working at the highway department. You have to be prepared for whatever comes and adjust.
"Until they put one of these racetracks in a dome, hint hint, wink wink to Jerry [Jones] in Dallas, we're just going to have to figure out that Mother Nature trumps, and that he who wins will be whichever one adjusts the best."
Oaklawn is the host for four of the 35 races on the Road to the Kentucky Derby's official Derby prep schedule -- the Smarty Jones, the Southwest, the Rebel Stakes, scheduled for March 14, and the Arkansas Derby, scheduled for April 11.
The rescheduling of the Southwest cuts one week from the four-week gap originally scheduled between the Southwest and Rebel stakes.
"You're going to see that some of the horses who were going to run in both will choose to run in one or the other," Moquett said.
Moquett also said he will choose Far Right's path based on the result of the Southwest and how he comes out of the race.
"He's the boss," Moquett said. "I will go down to his office and say, 'What do you want me to do for you?' ''
Sports on 02/17/2015