Watchmaker: What a weird day at Gulfstream
Mar 1, 2015 16:14:24 GMT -5
Post by Evelyn on Mar 1, 2015 16:14:24 GMT -5
I'm not sure I agree with his last sentence. Don't tracks appoint stewards?
Watchmaker: What a weird day at Gulfstream
By Mike Watchmaker
DRF
The cancellation of Saturday’s racing here at Gulfstream after the fifth race was one of the weirdest cancellations I have ever seen. And I grew up in New England and have been involved in northeast winter racing almost all of my life, so I have seen more than my share of cancellations.
That isn’t to say the decision to cancel wasn’t right. It was absolutely the right call as conditions, no matter what side of the track you were on, were awful. But what made it so weird was the combination of what happened, and when it happened.
If you come to South Florida in July or August, you can expect heavy deluges on a frequent basis. But in this area in February, you just are not supposed to see the sort of severe weather we saw Saturday. That’s what made the day so freaky. The official rain total for the area Saturday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. was 8.25 inches. That’s an incredible non-hurricane rain total in an 11-hour period. I checked in on the local radar often during midday and it seemed like a giant storm cell set up over the area, and just did not move for hours.
That’s one thing about the track, no matter how long you have been around, on any day you still have a good chance of seeing something that you haven’t seen before.
The rain did let up some not long after the cancellation was announced, but the damage was done. Even past the time Daredevil was supposed to be making his 3-year-old debut in the Swale Stakes, the road exiting the track to Hallandale Beach Boulevard was completely flooded, and there were partial closures due to flooding on at least two roads adjacent to the track.
As someone pointed out to me on Twitter, this was the second straight wacky Saturday at Gulfstream. Last week, a tremendous stakes-packed card was overshadowed by three controversial stewards’ decisions. And Saturday’s terrific betting card was undermined by Mother Nature. I feel a little bad for Gulfstream, as both occurrences were out of the track’s control.
Watchmaker: What a weird day at Gulfstream
By Mike Watchmaker
DRF
The cancellation of Saturday’s racing here at Gulfstream after the fifth race was one of the weirdest cancellations I have ever seen. And I grew up in New England and have been involved in northeast winter racing almost all of my life, so I have seen more than my share of cancellations.
That isn’t to say the decision to cancel wasn’t right. It was absolutely the right call as conditions, no matter what side of the track you were on, were awful. But what made it so weird was the combination of what happened, and when it happened.
If you come to South Florida in July or August, you can expect heavy deluges on a frequent basis. But in this area in February, you just are not supposed to see the sort of severe weather we saw Saturday. That’s what made the day so freaky. The official rain total for the area Saturday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. was 8.25 inches. That’s an incredible non-hurricane rain total in an 11-hour period. I checked in on the local radar often during midday and it seemed like a giant storm cell set up over the area, and just did not move for hours.
That’s one thing about the track, no matter how long you have been around, on any day you still have a good chance of seeing something that you haven’t seen before.
The rain did let up some not long after the cancellation was announced, but the damage was done. Even past the time Daredevil was supposed to be making his 3-year-old debut in the Swale Stakes, the road exiting the track to Hallandale Beach Boulevard was completely flooded, and there were partial closures due to flooding on at least two roads adjacent to the track.
As someone pointed out to me on Twitter, this was the second straight wacky Saturday at Gulfstream. Last week, a tremendous stakes-packed card was overshadowed by three controversial stewards’ decisions. And Saturday’s terrific betting card was undermined by Mother Nature. I feel a little bad for Gulfstream, as both occurrences were out of the track’s control.
