Woodbine‘s 2006 Meeting Opens on April 1
By GREG MELIKOV, Contributing Write
Woodbine, the only North American track that can stage standardbred and thoroughbred racing on the same day, launches its 2006 thoroughbred meeting on April 1. That’s two week earlier than last year.
The multifaceted Canadian facility, which also has a seven-furlong harness racing surface, boasts a spectacular 1 -mile turf course that encircle two tracks, including the mile dirt oval. The highlight of the 167-day season, which runs through Dec. 3, is the $1 million Queen’s Plate Stakes, first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. Run at 1 miles, North America’s oldest continuously staged stakes race that debuted in 1860 is scheduled on June 26.
The $500,000 Breeders’ Stakes, third leg of the Triple Crown at 1 miles on the E. P. Taylor grass course, is scheduled for Aug. 7. The middle leg, the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes at 1 3/16 miles on the main track, will be run on July 16 at Fort Erie.
Since 1959, there have been seven Canadian Triple Crown winners. The last 3-year-old to perform the feat was Wando in ‘03.
Woodbine will offer more than $57 million in purses. An array of stakes includes several other million dollar races: The $1 million Atto Mile on the turf on Sept. 18 and the $1 million E. P. Taylor Stakes at a mile of the turf and the $2 million Pattison Canadian International at 1 � miles on the grass, both on Oct. 23.
The parade of Eclipse Award winners in the Grade 1 Canadian International began in ‘73 when Secretariat clinched the grass championship in his farewell to racing.
For the last several years, parking and admission to Woodbine have been free. And 1,700 slot machines were installed in ‘00 on a special floor.
Woodbine is a historic track, opening in 1874 on what was then the far eastern outskirts of Toronto, now virtually downtown. The name of the original track was changed to Old Woodbine in 1956 and in the spring of ‘63 became Greenwood.
However, live racing at Greenwood ended in ‘93 and a state-of-the-art teletheater was constructed on the site.
The present Woodbine, which has undergone several multi-million-dollar expansions and upgrades, opened on June 12, 1956. It is located on 640 acres in the northwestern outskirts of Toronto.
Woodbine officials are hoping for a meeting as good as ‘05 when total wagering increased 7.7 percent to $364,436,580 (Canadian). The daily average handle rose 9.7 percent to $2,222,174
The 167-day meeting ran several days longer when Woodbine was compensated for losing three full cards and another 22 races on five cards because of bad weather or track conditions.
Greg Melikov has been handicapping and writing about horses for decades. His articles and columns appear in print and on the Internet around the world. Greg is a retired newspaperman who became a racing fan at 13 when he saw 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation, his favorite horse, whip 20 older horses at old Arlington Park.
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