Training begins for clockwise turf racing

Preparations for Woodbine’s clockwise turf racing began this week, as the dirt training track was open for a clockwise training session Tuesday.

Woodbine plans to run up to 40 races in the opposite direction on turf this season. The move will allow the track to offer more turf racing over a portion of the course that is used only for races going 1 1/4 miles and beyond. A trial race is scheduled for May 16, with the first official clockwise turf race scheduled for June 10. Woodbine has branded the series of races as the “EuroTurf series.”

Several trainers took part in Tuesday’s first training session, including Robert Smith, who sent out Got Pump for a gallop under exercise rider Kalilla Archer.

“I’ve always been very interested in clockwise racing,” Smith said. “I’m a big fan of English racing and the way they do things in England. I used to clockwise train at the farm with our horses. We’d go counterclockwise one day and then clockwise the next just to take the pressure off the one side.”