SARATOGA SPRINGS — Dragging out the announcement until after the Travers Stakes was run, the New York Racing Association finally confirmed late Saturday evening that racing on Sunday at Saratoga was canceled because of Hurricane Irene.

Earlier in the day, NYRA announced that Aqueduct and the Belmont Café would be closed for simulcasting Sunday.

Sunday’s feature, the Grade 1 Personal Ensign Stakes, will be redrawn Wednesday and run next Saturday, Sept. 3, on a card that includes the Grade 1 Woodward and Forego.

Over 7 inches of rain and high winds are predicted for Sunday in the Albany area, and there were rumblings all afternoon Saturday that NYRA would cancel the card. Why they waited so long to make it official is anybody’s guess, but it was a big mistake by a management that’s been making a lot of bad decisions lately.

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There is no racing or simulcasting Sunday at Monmouth Park or Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey.