Page 2 - The Game April 2006
P. 2

2 The Game, April 2006 Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper
Woodbine Prepares for Polytrack Installation
Woodbine New Gate Training Procedure
In an effort to alleviate delayed starts during racing as well as frustrations during morning gate work training, the Race Office at Woodbine has implemented a new starting gate training system which will use two starting gates on the main track during training hours.
One gate is situated at the 6 1/2 furlong pole which will be used for schooling standers and walkers from the break. The horses will exit down the 7/8 chute. A horse has to graduate from the schooling gate in order to go to the second training gate which will be positioned in its usual location at the 1/4 pole and will be used for breaking and working from the gate.
Gate hours are from 8:00am to 10:00am (except Tuesday)
According to Chris Evans, WEG Vice
President of Thoroughbred Racing, this new system was implemented to help alleviate the frustration of trainers who have workers from the gate who must wait behind the gate for the schooling horses.
The 6 stall training gate on the training track will no longer be used however it will be available daily for “pre-schooling” horses to walk through in preparation for schooling on the main track. The 6-stall gate will also be used whenever the main track is closed for training.
The main track is now open from 6 am to 10am daily with a 1/2 hour harrow break at 7:30 am with two outriders on duty.
The training track is open from 6:00 am to 10:30 am with a 1/2 hour harrow break at 8:00 am. The sand ring is open from 6:00 am to 12 noon.
While Woodbine Entertainment Group’s Executive Vice President and C.O.O. Jim Ormiston is still in the midst of negotiations with contract details regarding the new polytrack installation at Woodbine, the Race Office has been busy working out the logistics of how they are going to continue racing during the installation.
The installation of a new Polytrack surface at Woodbine was heavily endorsed by the Board of Directors at WEG and construction is set to begin in July 2006.
The plan is to race on the existing dirt surface until July 3 after which time the dirt from the main track will be transferred to the existing inside Standardbred surface which will undergo a downgrading of the slope to 8% before it is covered.
Chris Evans, WEG’s Vice President of Thoroughbred Racing, says that after the (Canada Day) holiday weekend, July 4 is dark and they will likely cancel racing on July5&6toallowtimeforthetracktobe transferred and the rails, poles and teletimers to be installed and properly positioned on the 7/8 mile track.
It is estimated that the Polytrack installation will take 6 to 8 weeks to com- plete during which time the race office will be writing 5 furlong, about 7 furlong, 1 mile, and 1 1/16 mile races.
“We can’t run 6 furlong races because of the starting position and we might experiment with 7 1/2 furlong races.” said Chris as he went over the details.
Thursday racing will likely be cancelled during the installation period however there are no other foreseeable cancellations which still have to be approved by the ORC.
Construction will be ongoing during non-racing hours. Crews will be working day and night to finish the job which means 24 hours Mondays and Tuesdays, Wednesdays before and after evening racing, 24 hours on Thursdays and before and after racing Fridays through Sundays.
Due to the construction workload there will not be any morning training on the main track for July and August. All training will be on the training track which will be open extended hours from 5:30am to 11:00am to safely accommodate all the horses. There will likely be two harrowing breaks and gate training will be available.
If all goes well, the goal is to have racing commence on the new Polytrack surface at Woodbine by Labour Day weekend, September 2, and considerations are being made to extend the meet in December to make up the lost racing dates.
2006 Sovereign Awards
The Sovereign Awards which salute outstanding achievement in Canadian racing and breeding will be held this year on Saturday, December 16, 2006. The InterContinental Hotel, a premier facility located at 225 Front Street West in Toronto will be the host venue for the 32nd Annual gala.
Owners and Trainers should note, in order to be eligible for Sovereign Awards
consideration, horses must make three starts in Canada prior to November 26th, 2006 as eligible voters will begin voting online on Wednesday, November 29th and must cast their final ballots by 5:00 pm (EDT) on Monday, December 4th, 2006.
All submissions for Media Award categories must be received in the office of The Jockey Club of Canada by 5:00 pm (EDT) on Tuesday, October 31st, 2006.
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