Turfway Park Cancels Feb. 4 Card Amid Continued Winter Weather

Turfway Park canceled the live racing card scheduled for Feb. 4, citing continued winter weather conditions that have forced multiple disruptions to its meet. The cancellation comes after the track had already shifted Feb. 4-5 post times to 1 p.m. EST from the normal 5:55 p.m. start in an effort to avoid the worst of the cold, and follows a run of cancellations tied to subzero wind chills and a winter storm.

Turfway’s press-release language stated plainly, “Due to continued winter weather conditions, live racing at Turfway Park has been canceled Feb. 4.” The release quoted National Weather Service forecasts warning that wind chills could “not rise above the single digits over the next 48 hours and dip as low as minus 11 degrees on Wednesday.” Track officials said they will continue to monitor conditions and update future cards as needed.

The immediate practical fallout is concentrated on two stakes on Turfway’s schedule. Turfway said, “Additional information regarding makeup dates for Friday’s $125,000 Wishing Well Stakes and Saturday’s $125,000 Forego Stakes will be announced in the coming days.” With those races temporarily in limbo, owners and trainers weighing starts for fillies, sprinters and older dirt runners must reassess travel, training and placement plans. Wagering pools and the betting handle that underwrite purses and local racing revenues will also be deferred until makeups are set.

Regional ripple effects have already been visible. Charles Town, Oaklawn, Laurel Park and Aqueduct also adjusted or canceled cards amid the same cold snap, compressing a wider Northeast and mid-Atlantic scheduling logjam. Aqueduct and NYRA likewise rearranged stakes schedules for their programs, underscoring how a single weather system can cascade through a tightly parceled winter racing calendar.

For horsemen, the cancellations mean logistical headaches for shippers and for stables trying to protect horses in bitter temperatures. For bettors and ontrack patrons, the short-term effect is lost racing opportunities and uncertainty about reissued condition books and post-time lineups. For Turfway Park’s gaming operations, postponed cards can depress daily handle and push revenue from pari-mutuel pools into later weeks when calendar space permits makeups.

Turfway indicated that live racing was scheduled to resume Thursday with a 1 p.m. EST first post, while the Feb. 7-8 cards remained listed at the normal 5:55 p.m. post times at the time of the release. Readers and horsemen should check Turfway Park’s official website and communications for the latest status and official makeup dates. The next 48 hours will determine whether stakes are slotted back into the meet seamlessly or if the winter snap forces deeper reshuffling across the winter racing circuit.