Just three days before the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita Park, there were still more than a dozen horses that had yet to arrive because of delays caused by superstorm Sandy.
"All the airports were shut down everywhere," said champion horse trainer Bill Mott.
Mott said he had to make last minute changes to get his horses out of New York City.
"We were forced to move it up about 12 hours, and switch airports," he said.
The horses were loaded onto a plane after midnight on Monday, and that was after driving two
hours north to find an open runway.
According to Breeders' Cup rules, the horses have to be at the track 72 hours before they race.
This means, those still coming in on Wednesday morning or later could have been in jeopardy if they plan to race on Friday, but officials have come up with a backup plan.
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"We've made some accommodations to keep the horses under observation while they're traveling, so there shouldn't be any issues at all assuming they get out OK," said Breeders' Cup president and CEO Craig Fravel.
