Rain pours down in Cincinnati resulting in postponement of the race day at River Downs
River Downs is a horse racing track in Cincinnati which replaced the old racetrack called Old Oakley Racetrack, closed down in 1910 and after 15 year’s River Downs replaced it in 1925. It is situated outside the southeast limits of Cincinnati.
River Downs can hold a crowd of 9,350 and the entire field contains two race tracks, on the outside is a dirt course spanning 1 mile and on the inside is a turf course which stretches up to 7 furlongs.
The racing season begins on this 80 feet wide track at the start of April to the first week of September and different stakes’ races are run at the River Downs such as Bassinet Stakes, Buckeye Native Stakes, Cradle Stakes, Hoover Stakes, Miss Southern Ohio Stakes, Queen City Oaks and the Vivacious Handicap.
This year as a consequence of heavy rainfall around the southeast limits of Cincinnati, River Downs postponed its opening race day till 13th May, two weeks after the actual starting date, 29th April.
A week before the original opening date, floodwaters found way into the race track which prompted the evacuation of horses, thus, delaying the opening date of the season.
Horses were allowed to train at the racetrack after a week as conditions got better.
Even then horsemen and trainers were discussing among themselves whether it would be wise to let horses train on a track which has been totally overrun by floodwaters.
The water would clear out eventually but the main 1 mile dirt track was underwater for quite some time and it was too soft for training.
The wet conditions were taken care of and races started on the altered date, 13th May.
A month later, River Downs was struck by rain again, but this time the rain soaked up the tracks due to the thunderstorms in the area, hence, resulting in the postponement of the 22nd June live race day.
“In the interest of the safety of the horses and riders we closed the main track for training this morning and racing this afternoon”, track publicist, John Engelhardt, said in a press release. “Our track crew will be doing their best to get it ready for live racing on Thursday. We hate to lose a live day as well as things are going”.
Thunderstorms and perpetual rain causing floods have paid frequent visits to the Cincinnati based racetrack and in 1997 it fell victim to another flood unfortunately right after the renovation that took place there.
The racetrack is right beside the banks of the Ohio River and the floodwaters flow in every time when there is heavy rain fall but the one witnessed in March 1997 was the worst of all.
Tags: