Fewer dates should mean fatter fields as Fort Erie meet opens
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Fort Erie’s 129th season, a 34-day meet that is significantly shorter than the border track’s traditional 40-day stand, kicks off on Sunday. Racing runs through Oct. 20 on a mostly Monday/Tuesday schedule beginning in late June, following a series of Sunday cards.
James Culic, Fort Erie’s manager of marketing and corporate communications, said the plan is to run the same number of races as in the past while strategically making the best of a declining horse population.
“We have removed six mid-season dates from the calendar,” Culic explained. “However, while we have slightly fewer race days, we have made a commitment to running the same number of total races this season, giving our horsemen a chance to be a part of larger field sizes in each race, which benefits both horsemen and our bettors.
“This tighter schedule also allows us to produce the best possible product during our special-event days, when we have a large captive audience, so that we can maximize our wagering handle and better showcase our Thoroughbred racing to as many people as possible.”
The highlight of meet is the 91st running of the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes. The middle leg of the Canadian Triple Crown will be run a little earlier than usual, on Labor Day, Sept. 7. It had been contested on a Tuesday in recent years.
“We’ve moved the Prince of Wales to Labor Day to capitalize on in-person attendance,” Culic explained. “While our wagering on the Prince of Wales [card] has been strong on Tuesdays, many horse racing fans have been asking for our big race to return to a weekend, so we’ve made the decision to accommodate those requests.”
Woodbine’s Race and Stay program is back for another year. Any horse who leaves Woodbine to race at Fort Erie will not be eligible to stable at Woodbine until after the Fort Erie meet ends. The program does not apply to horses shipping out for stakes at Fort Erie.
Culic is projecting a purse increase after Woodbine signs off on additional money from the province of Ontario’s Long-Term Funding Agreement with the horse racing industry. That money is being held up while Woodbine seeks a bigger share of the $35 million in funding than what was originally offered to the track.
“Once the Long-Term Funding Agreement has been finalized, our plan is to immediately implement a purse increase across the board for races this season,” Culic said.
He added that the local horse population isn’t far off of last year’s numbers.
“We are down about 20 horses from this time last year,” he said, “but horses continue to ship in and we anticipate being in good position by Father’s Day for our big event that Sunday. We believe that once the LTFA is finalized and the purse increase is announced, we will see our horse population grow.”
The Summer Solstice Cup and the Sprint Into Summer Cup are the features on opening day, when there will be a T-shirt giveaway. Wiener Dog and Corgi races are scheduled for later in the meet, along with a food-truck festival, concert nights, and Family Day.
A new featured race is the Richard Grubb Cup, which honors the veteran jockey who was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2024.
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