Hurricane Igor reared its ugly head earlier this week in Eastern Canada -- not that you have to explain that to anyone in Newfoundland, or at the St. Johns Racing and Entertainment Centre in Goulds, for that matter
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The track got absolutely pounded by the storm, and, in what was a no-brainer, the Sunday, September 26 card of racing has been cancelled.
Speaking on behalf of SJREC General Manager Brett Whelan, race secretary Jim Hare announced the cancellation.
"Due to the amount of water and damage created by Hurricane Igor, our program scheduled for Sunday, September 26 has been cancelled," he said. "There is still a large amount of water covering the track and until such time as the water recedes they will not be able to access the damages to the racing surface. We should have more information in the next few days in regards to when our next program will be held."
Flooding at the picturesque track is nothing new, but the aftermath of Igor's rage is an unbelievable sight to see.
"I hope everyone weathered the storm OK," NHHOA President Keith Gowan said. "I have also been talking to Brett, and as Jim mentioned, the races are cancelled for this weekend. The track surface will be evaluated over the next few days to determine how much damage has been done and the cost of repairing the surface.
"As you all can imagine, this was the worst flood in recent memory and [it] will take a little time for the water to completely go down in the infield and off the track, but it seems to be going down quite quickly."
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This is definitely not a
This is definitely not a pretty sight! I hope that the humans and horses at the track and in the surrounding areas in the Goulds got through the hurricane safely. I know that a lot of work has been put into this track and I have no doubt that Brett Whelan and his crew will clean up the damage quickly and be back up and running soon. My thoughts are with everyone in that beautiful part of the country who is dealing with the aftermath of this hurricane.