Horse racing still has a long way to go but they seem to have learned at least a partial lesson from the rightfully dying sport of dog racing–you have to look out for the safety of the equine athletes. Greyhound racing has all but run itself out of business due to the deplorable treatment of the dogs and horse racing needs to emphasize animal welfare to avoid the same fate. More often than not, however, the ‘sport of kings’ tries to do right by the horses. Such was the case on Monday at Philadelphia’s Parx Racing. The facility cancelled their Monday racing card due to high temperatures and humidity in the Philadelphia area. They made the decision in the early hours on Monday to give them a chance to notify trainers and horsemen of their decision.

The track was able to run the full card on Sunday but Parx Director of Racing Sam Elliott said they weren’t going to be that fortunate on Monday: “I thought we could be in trouble yesterday, but the humidity stayed in the 30s and it really wasn’t too bad. The humidity is supposed to be up over 50 percent Monday, which will make it feel much warmer.”

The plan is to make up Monday’s race card in the next week. They could encounter additional issues with the weather–there’s several days on the forecast this week that look similar to Monday with temperatures over 95 degrees and humidity over 50%. The current forecast for Tuesday calls for a high of 96 with humidity right around 50%. There will be a cloud cover that could keep the heat index down. Even so, the heat index is expected to be in the 95 to 97 degree range which isn’t great Wednesday looks better for racing with a high temperature of 93 degrees with the humidity reading staying in the mid 40% range.

In other Parx news, the facility announced a new Fall Stakes race. Or, more appropriately, a ‘revised’ Fall Stakes race. The Hall of Fame will be a five-furlong sprint for horses three years old and up. Last year, the Hall of Fame had different conditions–a 6 1/2 furlong sprint for two year olds. Director of Racing Elliott wasn’t happy with the results: “I wasn’t happy with the race last year. This is a niche division that I think might draw a good field.”