Pair of maiden stakes kick off 40-day meet
?q=100)
The popular border oval Fort Erie launches its 2025 season on Tuesday with an eight-race card, the first of 40 racing days during a meet which is scheduled to conclude Oct. 21.
Racing will be conducted on Tuesdays until June 15, Father’s Day, the first of four Sunday programs during the meet. Mondays will be added to the schedule June 23. There will be no Tuesday racing June 17, July 15, July 29, and Aug. 19.
Post time is 4:30 p.m. Eastern with the exception of all Sundays, along with July 1, Aug. 4, Sept. 1, and Tuesdays in October, when the first post is 12:15 p.m. Post time on Mondays and Tuesdays in late August and throughout September is 3 p.m.
The highlight of the meet is the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes Sept. 9. The 1 3/16-mile dirt route is the middle leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, following the $1 million King’s Plate over Woodbine’s synthetic Tapeta surface Aug. 16. The $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes completes the series and will be contested over Woodbine’s inner turf Sept. 28.
Vitality captured last year’s Prince of Wales at 9-1 under Jose Campos for Stronach Stables and trainer Harold Ladouceur.
Also on the Prince of Wales undercard are two $100,000 stakes for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds, the Lake Erie and the Rondeau Bay for fillies.
A pair of $30,000 maiden stakes head the opening-day card, the Summer Solstice Cup and the Sprint Into Summer Cup.
Woodbine’s Race and Stay Program is back for another year, which has impacted field size at Fort Erie. Any horse that leaves Woodbine to compete at Fort Erie will be ineligible to stable at Woodbine for the remainder of the Fort Erie meet. Those horses will be permitted to return to Woodbine after the completion of the Fort Erie meet. The program does not apply to horses shipping out for any stakes.
“Generating field size from the stall inventory at each racetrack is a financial priority for the entire industry,” said a Woodbine release regarding the program. “Every race card produces necessary wagering dollars to support the purse account at Woodbine and Fort Erie collectively. 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.
“Although there are otherwise no exceptions to this program, the vice president of thoroughbred racing or racing secretary retains the discretion to manage and amend this program in the best interests of our racing program.”
James Culic, the manager of marketing and corporate communications for Fort Erie, said the track’s longtime stance against Woodbine’s controversial shipping policy remains the same.
“Fort Erie Racetrack continues to advocate for a harmonious Ontario horse racing industry where trainers and owners are free to move their supply of horses between tracks without any barriers,” Culic explained.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.