Tampa Bay Alters Weekend Schedule  

HorseRacingFLA Staff Report

With heavy rain in the overnight forecast, Tampa Bay Downs has postponed three turf races that it had planned to run on Saturday as co-features.

The Oldsmar track has moved the Endeavour Prep to Sunday.  It will be the eighth race on a nine-race card.

The two second leg races of the annual Tampa Turf Test  also had been scheduled for Saturday.

Track officials have told us that those two races probably will be run on Wednesday Jan. 11.  Entries for Wednesday will be out on  Saturday evening, and we will report the news of any rescheduling.                                                                                                                                                                   The Weather Channel’s forecast for the Tampa Bay area from 6:00 p.m. Friday through 11:00 a.m. Saturday is for a chance of thunderstorms, sometimes heavy, of 50 percent or greater.

The forecast for Saturday is for a 5 percent chance of rain during racing hours.

But following expected rain, it is likely that no races will stay on the turf on Saturday. Thus, Tampa Bay Downs officials made an early decision to reschedule the three races.

First post is 12:55 p.m. for Saturday’s nine-race card.

On Saturday morning, we will have a preview article by our Tampa Bay reporter Monique Welch.

The Endeavour Prep is 1 1/16 miles on turf for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up.  Some trainers are using it as a prep for the Endeavour Stakes (Grade 3) at 1 1/16 miles on Feb. 11.