Racing at Belmont Park was canceled on Thursday due to poor air quality from wildfires in Canada, and New York’s governor warned that the Belmont Stakes could be affected if conditions don’t improve by Saturday.

It was the second straight day in which the fires affected sports in the northeastern United States. In Major League Baseball, the Washington Nationals’ home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks was postponed Thursday, a day after games were called off at New York and Philadelphia.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said one of racing’s biggest events could be scrapped if the air quality index on Saturday exceeds 200, the Environmental Protection Agency benchmark for air that is very unhealthy for everyone. If the air quality is measured at 150 to 200, only horses that pass an additional pre-race veterinary examination will be permitted to race.

“People come from all over the country,” Hochul said. “It’s huge for the local economy. And so we ... hopefully can get this going, but there’s no assurance of what the weather’s going to be. So it’s going to be a last-minute decision, I’m sure.”

New York Racing Association vice president of communications Patrick McKenna said that state officials and the NYRA consulted on how to proceed in “our shared efforts to provide the safest possible environment for training and racing thoroughbred horses.”