The 2015 live Thoroughbred racing season kicks off this
weekend at Woodbine, the first two of 133 programs scheduled for the year.
Saturday’s opening day 10-race card is highlighted by the C$125,000
Woodstock S., which will send a field of eight three-year-olds six furlongs on
the Polytrack, while Sunday’s card is highlighted by the C$125,000 Star Shoot S.
for three-year-old fillies, also at six furlongs over the Polytrack.
Woodbine’s perennial leading jockeys and trainers will once again be in
action. Patrick Husbands, a seven-time Sovereign Award recipient and 2014
finalist, has four mounts on opening day;
Luis Contreras, a two-time consecutive Sovereign Award winner and a finalist for
2014, has six mounts on Saturday; and 2013 Sovereign Award winner and 2014
finalist Eurico Rosa da Silva is named on seven, including an entry in the
5TH.
Last year, in a renaissance campaign,
Husbands led all Woodbine riders in wins (170), purse earnings ($10.6 million)
and stakes victories (27).
Another well-known jockey, Alan Garcia, has committed to ride at Woodbine this
year after many successful seasons in the United States. Among his Grade 1 wins
are the 2008 Belmont S. aboard Da’ Tara as well as victory in the 2013 Arlington Million
with Real Solution and the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf aboard Lahudood. Garcia
will be busy on Saturday, as he is named on seven horses.
A number of jockeys will be participating in a meet and greet session on the
second floor from 12:30-12:45 p.m. on opening day. The first 500 fans will receive free
programs, and there will also be C$5,000 distributed in Instant Cash Giveaways while
live music will be featured throughout the day.
Trainer Mark Casse, a six-time Sovereign Award winner and once again a 2014
finalist, sends out three on opening day. Casse comes off a 2014 season in which he won a Woodbine-leading 93 races, $7.7 million in purse earnings,
and of course, trained likely Canadian Horse of the Year Lexie Lou to victories
in the Woodbine Oaks and historic Queen’s Plate.
This year, Canada’s most famous horse race, the aforementioned C$1 million
Queen’s Plate, will be staged on Sunday, July 5, when the 1 1/4-mile classic for Canadian-bred three-year-olds will be contested for the 156th
consecutive time, making it the oldest continuously-run stakes race in North
America.
The C$500,000 Woodbine Oaks, for Canadian-foaled
three-year-old fillies, and the C$150,000 Plate Trial, for Canadian-bred
three-year-olds, both at 1 1/8 miles, will be contested Sunday, June
14.
Other major races at Woodbine include the C$500,000 Breeders’ S., the third
leg in the Canadian Triple Crown, on August 16 at 1 1/2 miles over
the E.P. Taylor Turf Course; the C$1 million Woodbine Mile
(Can-G1) and C$300,000 Northern Dancer Turf (Can-G1), both on turf September 13; the
C$1 million Canadian International (Can-G1) and C$500,000 E.P. Taylor S.
(Can-G1), also both turf events, on Sunday, October 18.
First-race post times for Saturdays, Sundays and holiday
Mondays throughout the year will be 1 p.m. (ET). Friday racing, also with a 1
p.m. first race post, begins on April 24 while Wednesday night racing, beginning
at 6:45 p.m., is slated to start on May 27.
Woodbine will introduce a new wager, the 20-cent Pick 5
(Races 2-6 on Saturday), as well as continue to offer the horseplayer
20-cent Triactor, Pick 3, Pick 4 and Superfecta minimum bets. There’s also a
$100,000 guaranteed pool for the early Pick 4s each weekend. The 20-cent
Jackpot Hi-5 (first five finishers in the day’s last race), inaugurated in 2013,
will also continue to be attractive, especially as a carryover, until only a
single ticket wins the entire pot.
Woodbine’s 2015 Thoroughbred season comes to a close on Sunday, November 29.
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