It was the proverbial calm before the storm at Santa Anita Park the morning of Friday, Oct. 31, as the Southern California track prepared for the first of two Breeders’ Cup World Championships cards.

With the track closing earlier than normal for training since first post on Cup Day 1 is 11:25 a.m. PDT, most of the Breeders’ Cup’s equine participants were out early to stretch their legs. There were no reports of horses being withdrawn and all was relatively quiet.

The typical Southern California sun that has heated up Arcadia, Calif., as horses and people went about their preparations for the World Championships, is expected to change later in the day Friday with a 100%chance of rain in the evening. Partly cloudy skies will give way to more clouds, with rain expcted to begin about 7 p.m. and continue overnight. The forecast is for the rain to stop by 10 a.m. Saturday, but with partly cloudy skies and a chance of more showers before clearing up at noon. Temperatures will be in the low 70s today; low to mid-60s Saturday.

If that doesn’t sound good, it’s actually mild compared with the forecast in Lexington, where the 2015 World Championships will be held at Keeneland over the comparable weekend.

According to Acuweather, the low temperature tonight in Lexington will be 33 degrees, with rain turning into snow overnight. Up to an inch of snow is expected.