First up, the 47th Sovereign Awards presented by the Jockey Club of Canada (Livestream and program here).
Then, opening day of the 71st Woodbine Thoroughbred racing season.
Canadian racing will be celebrated this week as the Thoroughbred season at Woodbine will begin ‘on time’ for the first year since 2019. The last two seasons of racing at the Rexdale track were delayed and shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many races days were held without fans and there was plenty of uncertainty around the sport for two years.
“To have opening day back in its usual position on the calendar is very important to not only our operations at Woodbine, but also the livelihoods of our racing participants,” said Jim Lawson, CEO of Woodbine Entertainment. “Having had so much uncertainty throughout our last two seasons it provides great relief to start our season in mid-April and look ahead at a full racing calendar.”
The 163rd running of The Queen’s Plate on Sunday, August 21 is the crown jewel of the 2022 racing season at Woodbine. More than $16.9 million in stakes races will be contested throughout the new season, including 37 graded stakes.
Woodbine opens Saturday, April 16 (post time 1:10 p.m.) with the Long Branch Stakes, named for a former racetrack located in south Etobicoke, and the Welcome Back Starter Handicap. Century Mile in Nisku, Alberta, opens April 30, Hastings racecourse in Vancouver gets started May 7, Fort Erie, May 11 and Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg begins May 23.
The April 14 Sovereign Awards will honour the champion horses and people of Canadian racing 2021 and, also for the first time since 2019, the ceremony will be held in person. It begins with a cocktail hour at 5 p.m. at the Universal Eventspace in Vaughan.
The finalists for all categories are here. Ivan Dalos will be presented with the E.P. Taylor Award of Merit.
The horses that figure to battle for the Horse of the Year 2021 trophy are multiple graded stakes winner MIGHTY HEART, the one-eyed colt of Larry Cordes; PINK LLOYD, the probable champion sprinter for an unprecedented fifth time; and MUNNYFOR RO, the filly who won the Woodbine Oaks and Wonder Where Stakes, two-thirds of the Triple Tiara.
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