Horse racing fans in central Michigan will have to wait another week for live racing to return to Mount Pleasant Meadows.
The mixed breed racetrack canceled its opening card yesterday due to a lack of entries. In an email, the track said “weather conditions last week caused a lack of workouts for horses wanting in.”
The Mount Pleasant area has been getting steady rains for several days, and the track’s tendency to hold water likely made training conditions difficult on the sandy loam.
Commitments at Indiana Downs by trainers, jockeys and horses normally based at Mount Pleasant may have also cut into the available stock for Saturday’s card. The Shelbyville, Ind. track scheduled three quarter horse races on Saturday, starting at 10:15 p.m.. With the smallest of the three purses listed at $17,500, that’s a hard number to turn down.
Despite the cancellation of the live card, Mount Pleasant Meadows will still be open for simulcast wagering, including the Kentucky Derby.
Mount Pleasant Meadows joins Hollywood Park on the list of racetracks to cancel cards this week due to lack of entries. The Inglewood, Calif. racetrack canceled yesterday’s scheduled races when the card failed to draw enough horses earlier this week.
