Live racing is back on track at Woodbine Racetrack this weekend. Horse racing continues to be the first major sport to return to live competition in Canada, beginning with Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg which returned to live racing last week. The 2020 Thoroughbred meet at Woodbine was originally scheduled to open on April 18 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2020 meet will open at Woodbine on Saturday, June 6 at 1 p.m. and run four days a week, shifting to Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (racing in the second week will run Thursday, Saturday and Sunday with the opening of the stakes calendar on the weekend). All post times will be 1 p.m. except for Thursdays where post time will be 3:45 p.m. The venue will continue to be closed to spectators and media due to government regulations.
To complement the return of racing without spectators, Woodbine Entertainment has announced the launch of Dark Horse, an innovative App for horse racing that was built with the sports bettor in mind and is suitable for the first-time bettor or the experienced horse player. Using Artificial Intelligence, Dark Horse provides users with insights and strategies to help make smarter bets straight out of the gate. Dark Horse, the first legal sports betting app in Canada, also allows users to stream the races right in the App for immediate action. Users can play for free or bet with real money.