Woodbine: 2012 dates request would drop Thursdays from mid-July to early September

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – There are a few wrinkles in Woodbine’s racing dates application for 2012, which currently is awaiting approval from the Ontario Racing Commission.

While the number of dates requested is unchanged at 167, Woodbine will not be racing on Thursdays from July 19 through Sept. 6.

“Perenially, this has been our weakest horse supply period of the year, due to a combination of factors,” said Steve Koch, vice president, Thoroughbred racing, for the Woodbine Entertainment Group.

“It’s a key time of the year to run four days of the week rather than five, to manage the horse supply and maintain the quality of the product.”

Those vacated Thursdays have essentially been tacked on to the end of the meeting, which will conclude at the unprecedented late date of Dec. 16.

“Traditionally, we have extremely strong field size at that time of year,” said Cook.

The meeting would begin on Good Friday, April 6 with three-day racing weeks of Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays with Wednesdays added on May 2 and Thursdays on June 6.

This year’s meeting began on Saturday, April 2, and is scheduled to end on Sunday, Dec. 4.