Columbus, MN — A severe thunderstorm hit Running Aces just after race four on Thursday evening (Aug. 5) with significant rainfall and severe lightning.

The main building took a direct hit from the lightning and lost power to many critical systems and also suffered damage to some critical equipment.

The track crew worked fast to recover the racing surface and management worked quickly to restore power and repair equipment, but ultimately the combination of the lengthy delay and the fact that there was still dangerous lightning in the area prevented officials from being able to get horses back onto the track in time and the remainder of the 10-race program had to be canceled.

There were two Minnesota-Sired events that were among the canceled races (the freshman ‘A’ pace and the sophomore ‘B’ pace) and those events are being carried over to Sunday (Aug. 8) on an early non-betting card starting at 5:15 p.m. (CDT).