Unless the skies have another trick up their sleeve, the 165th King’s Plate winner will be crowned Friday.
But while the race is normally a celebration of the Canadian racing industry, few are in the mood to party.
Scheduled to be run last Saturday, heavy rains overwhelmed the synthetic racing surface at Woodbine, forcing the track to cancel racing after five races were run. For a sport highly scrutinized over race safety, it was the correct call.
But subsequent actions by Woodbine Entertainment left the public and local horsepeople fuming, with everything from outrage to ridicule expressed over social media. And while much of that had to do with the decision to run Canada’s most prestigious race on a weekday, early missteps regarding refunds for ticket holders added to the humiliation.
Fans who bought tickets were initially told there would be no refunds because the track had a ‘rain or shine’ policy. What Woodbine forgot was that these ticket-buyers paid to see a specific horse race, rain or shine.
With that race — the King’s Plate — not run, the undercard races that were run and side entertainment that took place became totally irrelevant.
The backlash from the public was enough for Woodbine to reverse course and refund seat holders or ticket holders to the Hat and Horseshoes party with other matters still being dealt with.
But that doesn’t solve the issue of fans who want to see the race not being able to because it now conflicts with their work schedules.
This is where local horsepeople come into the conversation. Woodbine is slated to miss significant local wagering handle and auxiliary revenue that would have been realized if the race were to be run on Saturday in front of a full grandstand.
This is money that helps these people directly. Woodbine appears to take the route that competing directly on Saturday with the spectacular Travers Stakes card at Saratoga would hurt its U.S. and international wagering, which local stables see none of.
And while a lot American bettors would have concentrated solely on Saratoga, many handicappers would have loved the idea of six Woodbine stakes (adding the scheduled Seaway Stakes) and five Grade 1 Saratoga events on the same day (not to mention the Canadian Derby card in Edmonton and some stakes action from Woodbine Mohawk Park in the evening).
But it was Woodbine’s lack of consultation with the horsepeople that is particularly disturbing. Not only were they not asked when the original decision was made to reschedule for Friday, subsequent requests through their advocacy groups to reconsider the decision fell on deaf ears.
This could serve to deepen the wounds between the track and the people who deliver the product.
Nonetheless, there will be a Plate as well as the King Edward, Catch a Glimpse, Soaring Free and Bold Venture Stakes along with seven other contests with racing to begin at 1:05 p.m. and the Plate going off at 5:34 p.m.
A field of 13 was entered for the Plate with My Boy Prince being the 7-5 morning-line favourite and stablemate Essex Serpent at 2-1. Both are trained by Mark Casse. Other contenders include filly Caitlinhergreatness and Rafaroo.
Woodbine is using its regular policy of free admission and open seating on Friday.