Fort Erie begins 40-day meet; Prince of Wales set for Sept.12
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Fort Erie launches its 126th season on Tuesday with a meet scheduled for 40 days and headed by the Prince of Wales Stakes, the middle leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.
Racing will be conducted on Tuesdays until Mondays are added June 12. Sunday racing will replace Mondays on June 18, July 16, and Aug. 13. Closing day is Oct. 17.
The $400,000 Prince of Wales is the centerpiece on the Sept. 12 card. There are two other stakes on the program, the $100,000 Lake Erie for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds and the $100,000 Rondeau Bay for Ontario-sired 3-year-old fillies. The $30,000 Le Cinquieme Essai Cup and the $30,000 Molson Cup also will be held Sept. 12.
Won in 2022 by Duke of Love, the Prince of Wales is a 1 3/16-mile dirt route for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds. It follows the $1 million King’s Plate on Aug. 20 and precedes the final Triple Crown race, the $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes on Oct. 16, which are both at Woodbine.
The opening day co-features are a pair of $30,000 maiden stakes, the Summer Solstice Cup and the Sprint into Summer Cup. Post time for the eight-race card is 4:30 p.m. Eastern.
“For opening day we’ve got a ton of awesome entertainment for race fans, families, and everyone in between,” said James Culic, Fort Erie’s manager of marketing and corporate communications. “Not only do we have a full card of exciting horse races, but we’ll have a great selection of food trucks here to fill people’s bellies, and a wicked band ready to hit the stage as soon as the last horse crosses the finish line.”
Voted Niagara’s favorite party band, The Figure Four will hit the stage about 8 p.m., kicking off the first of seven free concerts at the track this season.
Woodbine’s controversial shipping policy is expected to impact field size at the meet. With the exception of stakes, any horse that leaves Woodbine to compete at Fort Erie will be ineligible to stable at Woodbine until after the completion of the Fort Erie meet.
“The Woodbine policy known as ‘race and stay’ is bad for the entire industry,” Culic said. “We said that back in 2017 when it was first implemented, and we’ve said that every year since then. We strongly believe that what they are doing is wrong, which is why we made our case to the Canadian Trade Commission, to try and resolve the horse shipping policy issue.”
A statement put out by Woodbine emphasized that Woodbine stalls are reserved for horses that race consistently at Woodbine and fill cards on-site.
“Generating field size from the stall inventory at each racetrack is a financial priority for the entire industry,” the statement said. “Every race card produces the necessary wagering dollars to support the purse account at Woodbine and Fort Erie – collectively $74 million. If we are not maximizing our field size at both tracks, we are weakening our product and will continue to risk contributions to the purse account.”
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