Trot Insider has learned that the qualifying session scheduled for noon today at the Olds Agricultural Society in Olds, AB has been cancelled due to conditions caused by heavy overnight rains.
The session of qualifiers scheduled for today will now be raced tomorrow. The session scheduled for Wednesday will now be raced Thursday.
"The skies must have just opened up some time in the night," Alberta Standardbred Horse Association racing manager Fred Gillis told Trot Insider this afternoon. "It must have been a monsoon-type of rain. I was here yesterday and the weather was great. It must have changed drastically once I left, because now Olds is just soaked."
Gillis told Trot Insider that roughly 30 two-year-olds are set to qualify during this week's two sessions. With the aforementioned youngsters being green and juvenile stakes coming up quickly, Gillis said that it wasn't worth the risk, especially since the sessions are just pushed back one day.
"Given the situation and after factoring everything in, we just thought it would be best to not take that chance," Gillis told Trot Insider.
"The horsemen are absolutely excited about getting these horses qualified. Rod Hennessey and Jeff Stone schooled some horses over the track last week. We all think the horses will get over the surface well and that the footing will be good. Again, we just didn't want to take any chances today."
Horsemen should contact Jackson Wittup to submit entries for next week's pair of qualifying sessions.
Wittup, who can be reached by phone at 780-532-8422 or fax at 780-402-7103, will be accepting entries for the September 29 and 30 sessions on Saturday, September 27.
All normal requirements for qualifying races must be met as follows:
- Horses must be freeze branded
- A current coggins test must be available
- 2008 eligibility fee must be paid
- All owners must be members in good standing with Horse Racing Alberta and Standardbred Canada