Photo:
Ed DeRosa & Woodbine TV
Etobicoke, Ontario
Citing concerns over standing water in both the tunnel
between the stable area and the paddock as well as certain spots of the track
itself, Woodbine postponed the King’s Plate and four other stakes until Friday after canceling races 6-13 on Saturday’s card.
Track management said it would run the Plate, the Grade 2 King Edward, the Bold Venture (G3), the Soaring Free and the Catch A Glimpse on a remapped King’s Plate card Friday afternoon.
Click here for Woodbine entries and results.
“We feel this decision maintains the integrity of the King’s Plate,” Woodbine CEO Michael Copeland said. “Even if we had waited and felt it was safe to run the Plate others may not have agreed and scratched, and that wouldn’t have been fair to them.
“By the time we got to late in the day, we dealt with so much rain in a short amount of time, and there were safety concerns. We consulted with our vets and our jockeys and made the determination it was unsafe to continue racing.”
Pending expected regulatory approval, the King’s Plate and the other stakes will maintain the current entries and will not be redrawn.
As the rain poured, all seven turf races Saturday already had been moved to the Tapeta course, and there were delays before races 2 and 5. The plug was pulled before race 6 as steady rain continued.
“In the interest of safety for our horses and horse people,
Woodbine Entertainment has canceled the remainder of Saturday’s live racing
card due to unsafe racing conditions caused by heavy rains in the greater
Toronto area,” a statement said on Woodbine’s social media pages.
Woodbine expected at least 20,000 people for the 165th
edition of the King’s Plate, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was among the
throng already in attendance at the track in suburban Toronto.
“It’s horse racing. It’s important to keep things in
perspective,” trainer Mark Casse said. “I’ve been very appreciative of Woodbine
management’s communication. They had to make some tough decisions. I think they
made the right ones.”
Casse and Kevin Attard are two trainers who expected to
start three horses each in the King’s Plate with Casse saddling the two
favorites My Boy Prince and Essex Serpent and Attard the popular filly
Caitlinhergrtness.
Attard echoed Casse’s sentiments, saying the most important
thing is communication so he can focus on preparing his 3-year-olds for the King’s
Plate, whenever it may be run.
A one-day postponement might not have worked since more rain was expected to fall Sunday in the Toronto area.
The six-day delay compresses the Triple Crown schedule. The second Canada classic is the Prince of Wales scheduled
for Sept. 10 on the dirt at Fort Erie, and the third is the Breeders’ Stakes on
Sept. 29 on the turf at Woodbine.
“Hopefully there’s no impact (to the Canadian Triple Crown),” Copeland said. “We wanted to do this as quick as possible, and Friday made more sense with the Travers (G1) being Saturday. Now we have a chance to have a great Friday card to start a big weekend in horse racing.”
The race then known as the Queen’s Plate was last postponed
in 2020, when the COVID outbreak forced it to be moved from its traditional
date in July to September. In 2021 it was moved to August, a decision that upset
organizers of the Prince of Wales.