Honeysuckle Entertainment is set to kick off the 2023 Thoroughbred race season on April 22 at Woodbine Speedway in Toronto, Ontario.
The 2023 season at Woodbine will include 133 racing days, featuring the 164th The King’s Plate on Sunday, August 20 and running through Sunday, December 17. To the end of May, race schedule Live will be updated to four days a week (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday) to balance the meeting.
Woodbine CEO Jim Lawson said: “The start of a new season is always a fun time of year with a lot of optimism for a great get-together. “We’ve had a great season in 2022 with record bets, so it’s only natural for us to set our expectations higher and aim for another record year.
“We’re happy to have everyone back and everything will work out on Saturday.”
Saturday’s opening day pass will feature nine races with a scheduled posting time of 1:10pm Fans who come to see the opening day can receive a free Woodbine hip pack as part of the upstairs giveaway 2 of the stands.
To view entries for Saturday, click This.
The new season at Woodbine will see familiar and new faces competing. Each participant’s goals are different, but they all revolve around spending as much time as possible in the winner’s circle.
Veteran driver Luis Contreras, winner of 2,442 races, returns to Woodbine with the goal of aiming for a successful season from start to finish.
“Every year, I want to do better than the year before and win the big races,” said Contreras, a two-time Queen’s Plate winner. “You always want to start the year strong and carry it through the whole season.”
Apprentice Sofia Vives will return to Woodbine for regular racing after storming the Toronto circuit in late 2022. The 21-year-old racer has four wins and eight top-three finishes in 16 starts. last season at Woodbine.
“If I can win the Sovereign Award, that would be great,” said Vives. “I also want to win three in one day. I won two in one day, but if I can win three, that would be amazing. I would be the happiest girl in the world.”
Last year’s Queen’s Plate champion driver, Rafael Hernandez, led all drivers in winning bets and finished second overall for the season in wins. The great racer remains focused on Canada’s most prestigious race, which returns to the moniker The King’s Plate for the first time since 1951.
“Now, I want to win the King’s Plate this year. We won the last Queen’s Plate – you never know when the next time it will be named that. It would be very special to win the last Queen’s Plate. and the first King’s Plate.”
The 164th The King’s Plate on Sunday, August 20 is the crown jewel of the 2023 live race season. Other event dates include the Woodbine Oaks introduced by Budweiser on Sunday, the 23rd. July, the Woodbine Mile (G1T) on Saturday, September 16 and the Canadian International (G1T) on Sunday, October 8.
To view the full 2023 stake schedule, click This.
This press release has been edited by BloodHorse Staff for content and style.
