After a five-day delay, meet begins Friday with pick five and Super Hi 5 carryovers

The 2021 Century Mile meet gets underway Friday with a 10-race card that begins at 6:15 p.m. Mountain. The now 48-day meet was slated to start last Sunday. However, due to unforeseen stipulations imposed by Alberta Health Services with regards to COVID 19 testing, the opening day card was canceled.

AHS wanted Century to do extensive testing of everyone that was going to come within six feet of another person. The cost would have been prohibitive as well as difficult to implement.

“It would have been almost impossible to actually test everyone,” said Matt Jukich, racing manager for Century. “After talking it over with the government they agreed that we could do rapid testing on site. The results come back in 15 minutes. We will be testing the jockeys, valets, and anyone that will be in close contact indoors.”

The Grade 3, $125,000 Canadian Derby on Sept. 11 is the highlight of the meet, which ends on Oct. 30. The 1 1/4-mile Canadian Derby for 3-year-olds is the only graded race in Western Canada this year.

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Due to a heavy snow storm, the final day of the 2020 meet was canceled. Because of the cancellation there is a $10,613 carryover in the pick five on Friday. The sequence begins on the sixth race. There is also a $3,019 carryover on the Super Hi 5 on the last race.