Woodbine completed its 132-day racing season on a snowy Sunday, December 11, 2022 with a big 14-race card and a second straight $8 million-plus afternoon of wagering from all sources (see a separate post on the results of the last day of racing).
One full racing day was lost in August when it was canceled due to extreme heat.
Jim Lawson, president, and CEO of Woodbine Entertainment told Canadian Thoroughbred that the 2022 meeting, the first full season of racing since 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic set in, will set records for wagering when final numbers are tallied.
“It was a great season, I am very happy,” said Lawson. “To find a comparable year by the number of dates [132] and races [to 2022] we have to go back to 2018. That year there were 1,257 races and wagering was $533 million.
“This year there were 1,198 races and we should see wagering at about $620 million.”
In addition, Lawson said foreign sources handle topped $500,000,000 for the first time.
“The Woodbine brand is growing all over the world,” said Lawson. “It is popular for its racing, integrity, safety, food, broadcasting and facilities. Our team does a great job.”
While there was a slightly smaller horse population, an issue that plagues most racetracks, field size at Woodbine held steady compared to recent years at 8.2 horses per race.
“There is a direct correlation between field size and wagering,” said Lawson. “The race office had a tough, tough job of juggling races and cards to get the best field size when there are fewer horses.”
Woodbine Entertainment, a non-profit organization, will lose money in 2022, but Lawson pointed out many encouraging highlights from the year.
“We sold out the Queen’s Plate [won by Moira] this year. It was the third-best handle for Plate day and the win pool on the Plate race itself was over $1 million, which is a record. The handle on the Woodbine Mile (GI) race of $2.9 million was the second best ever and of course, the winner, Modern Games, went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland.”
Woodbine and Stella Artois also opened the Stella Artois Terrace in 2022 and the outdoor dining area already has a 5-star rating on Open Table.
Lawson addressed queries from horsepeople about the 2023 Thoroughbred season with regard to race dates and purses. While he said that there could be as many as eight fewer racing days next year, the number of races and purses will essentially be the same. The small fields in the spring could be added to races later in the year.
“We are trying to do what is best for racing and trying to improve wagering. The amount of purse money is not going down and there will be a minimal impact on the number of races; we are looking at putting more races on Saturdays and Sundays.”
Lawson said the opening of the 2023 season is set for April 22, one week later than this season, but less only two racing dates.
*You can read more from Jim Lawson about Woodbine racing in 2022 and going forward in 2023, including the construction projects and sports betting in the SIRE BOOK publication from Canadian Thoroughbred, out later this month.
Final statistics for the 2022 season saw MARK CASSE win the trainer title for the 14th time. His Woodbine team, which includes assistants David Holmes, Nancy Sullivan, and manager Katherine Sullivan sent out 119 winners, which matches Casse’s previous top of 119 winners set in 2011. The stable runners earned over $7.4 million (US) and won 22 stakes races, 13 of them graded.
Not far behind Casse was KEVIN ATTARD, who had yet another career season and trained stars such as Woodbine Oaks and Queen’s Plate winner Moira and Grade 1 winner Last Call. Attard won 95 races and purses of over $5.1 million and he figures to have a good chance to win the Sovereign Award for the year’s Outstanding Trainer. (The Sovereign Awards are handed out on April 13, 2023). MARTIN DREXLER also had the best season of his career as he won 70 races and purses of $2.3 million.
KAZUSHI KIMURA won his second straight riding title with 152 wins over Rafael Hernandez (122) and Justin Stein edged Emma-Jayne Wilson for third place, 86 wins to 85.
AL AND BILL ULWELLING of Minnesota won their first owner’s title (by purses) with a total of $1.2 million (US) earned from 31 wins. The Ulwellings, who have built up a strong Ontario breeding and racing stable just four years after beginning their Ontario quest, have Kevin Attard as their trainer. BRUNO SCHICKEDANZ was the second leading owner by purses and led all owners by wins at 46.
Meet leaders are below:
LEADING OWNERS – Woodbine 2022 – Purses
Statistics according to Equibase in US $
1 Al and Bill Ulwelling – 138 31 19 15 $1,244,930 22%
2 Bruno Schickedanz – 276 46 39 41 $1,201,665 17%
3 Gary Barber – 134 23 15 26 $1,062,085 17%
4 Ivan Dalos – 116 22 17 16 $985,074 19%
5 X-Men Racing, Madaket,SF Racing – 26 8 5 2 $974,004 31%
6 D. J. Stable LLC – 78 15 15 10 $904,946 19%
7 Live Oak Plantation – 57 9 12 5 $773,949 16%
8 Chiefswood Stables Ltd. – 93 10 11 16 $750,632 11%
9 Godolphin, LLC – 5 2 0 1 $714,173 40%
10 Tracy Farmer – 59 9 6 6 $699,890
LEADING TRAINERS – Woodbine 2022 – By Wins
1 Mark E. Casse 671 — 119 109 84 $7,495,007 18%
2 Kevin Attard 460 — 95 62 61 $5,186,704 21%
3 Martin Drexler 370 — 70 72 49 $2,357,379 19%
4 Josie Carroll 229 — 40 32 28 $2,243,927 17%
5 Michael P. De Paulo 281 — 29 38 39 $1,404,283 10%
6 Robert P. Tiller 198 — 29 19 21 $974,247 15%
7 Norman McKnight 168 — 26 20 28 $719,282 15%
8 William Tharrenos 197 — 23 27 26 $741,660 12%
9 Donald C. MacRae 104 — 23 19 16 $695,669 22%
10 Michael J. Doyle 109 — 21 14 9 $822,088 19%
LEADING JOCKEYS – Woodbine 2022- By Wins
1 Kazushi Kimura 755 152 124 127 $6,786,062 20%
2 Rafael Manuel Hernandez 666 122 93 75 $6,049,719 18%
3 Justin Stein 633 86 82 89 $3,960,793 14%
4 Emma-Jayne Wilson 600 85 84 70 $3,947,076 14%
5 Sahin Civaci 440 70 70 69 $2,974,638 16%
6 Luis Contreras 541 66 72 68 $3,169,472 12%
7 Slade Jones 441 60 53 57 $1,919,309 14%
8 Patrick Husbands 313 58 47 40 $3,644,449 19%
9 Eswan Flores 384 47 50 60 $2,037,620 12%
Daisuke Fukumoto 357 47 29 43 $1,793,959 13%
LEADING HORSES – Woodbine – 2022 – By Wins
1 Who’s the Star, Tonalist 5 5 0 0 $268,218
1 Epilogue, Smooth Bid 12 5 1 0 $100,589
3 Hazelbrook, Bayern 6 4 2 0 $274,996
4 Poulin in O T, Reload 6 4 1 0 $209,723
5 Lady Moonshine, Milwaukee Brew 9 4 0 1 $174,584
6 Last American Exit, Society’s Chairman 10 4 2 0 $169,774
7 Luckman, Empire Maker 6 4 0 0 $127,874
8 Alpha Mia, Frac Daddy 10 4 3 0 $119,045
9 Banff, Silent Name (JPN) 7 4 1 0 $116,497
10 Wentru, Tourist 7 4 0 1 $115,073
11 Verdejo, Fed Biz 8 4 0 0 $103,391
12 Niagara Skyline, War Dancer 7 4 0 0 $101,593
13 Veery, Giant Gizmo 8 4 0 0 $89,044
LEADING HORSES – Woodbine 2022 – By Earnings
1 Moira Ghostzapper 4 3 0 0 $759,267
2 Modern Games (IRE) Dubawi (IRE) 1 1 0 0 $452,369
3 Sister Seagull Hard Spun 6 3 1 0 $368,902
4 Rougir (FR) Territories (IRE) 1 1 0 0 $327,681
5 Sir for Sure Sligo Bay (IRE) 4 2 0 1 $321,104
6 Philip My Dear Silent Name (JPN) 5 3 0 2 $305,762
7 Hall of Dreams Lemon Drop Kid 6 1 4 0 $297,489
8 Hazelbrook Bayern 6 4 2 0 $274,996
9 Who’s the Star Tonalist 5 5 0 0 $268,218
10 Last Call English Channel 3 1 1 0 $240,659
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