Toronto, ON – The horses are ready to run and their owners, trainers and jockeys are anxiously awaiting an early return to the winner’s circle, as the start of the 2010 Thoroughbred season at Woodbine draws closer.
The first step towards making the Good Friday opener a great success came on Tuesday when the track’s Opening Day card (Friday, April 2) was drawn with 86 horses scheduled to compete in 10 races.
The first horse slated to enter the starting gate will be Mike Doyle trainee One Spark, who drew post one in the card’s curtain-raiser, a $37,900 maiden allowance at 4 ½ furlongs for three-year-old fillies.
The Opening Day card also features the first added-money event of the 2010 season, the five-furlong, $100,000 Debut Stakes for Ontario Sired runners aged four or older. Among the contenders are speedy Norm McKnight trainee Drunken Love and Sand Cove, who is trained by last year’s Sovereign Award-winning conditioner, Roger Attfield.
The richest horse scheduled to compete on the programme is nine-year-old Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk, a career earner of $747,143. With 14 career tallies beside his name, the bay gelding is also the horse with the most wins on the card.
Several trainers are hoping to get off to quick starts to the 167-day meet. Mark Casse, Sid Attard, Howard Keen and Mike Doyle each have four horses entered.
First-race post time is 1:00 p.m.
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