Woodbine: Commission approves track's request to drop Thursday racing

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Ontario Racing Commission has approved Woodbine’s request to drop 11 Thursdays from the schedule, beginning this week.

Thursday racing had not been conducted at Woodbine since mid-July and the only Thursdays now remaining on the schedule will be Dec. 6 and Dec. 13, the final two weeks of the meeting when entries should be plentiful.

The Ontario Racing Commission, in announcing its reason for the decision released late Friday afternoon, noted that Woodbine’s application had projected a $3.4 million purse overpayment had all Thursdays, or 88 races, been retained through the end of the meeting.

With the cancellations, the overpayment is projected at $200,000.

The local Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association had sent a letter to the Ontario Racing Commission supporting Woodbine’s request.

"The current uncertainty within the industry requires careful management of the purse accounts,” said the Ontario Racing Commission, in its notice to the industry.