Saturday August 17 Woodbine Points Picks go here

[Alli]

I'm seeing on Twitter that Woodbine has cancelled the rest of the day.

[JolyB]

Originally Posted by Alli

I'm seeing on Twitter that Woodbine has cancelled the rest of the day.

What a shame on one of their biggest days of the year. They were only able to get 5 races in (none of the stakes races that made this such a good card) before extremely heavy rains caused them to cancel the balance of the card. Their were reports of heavy flooding throughout the Toronto Metro Area as they received a month's worth of rain in one day.

I haven't been able to find any info on a rescheduling of the King's Plate.

[RUFFIAN]

I just had a long lovely conversation
With the racing office at Woodbine
She said the rain was so bad it wasn’t safe to run

At this point she doesn’t know when they’ll reschedule
Probably next Saturday
So the track has a chance to dry out

[JolyB]

Extract from a DRF article:

"We were following the weather all day,” said Woodbine Entertainment CEO Michael Copeland. “When it got too late in the day, so much rain had come down in such a short time and there was pooling in the track. There were some safety concerns, so we consulted with our vets and jockeys and we made the determination that it was unsafe to continue racing.

“We’re going to carry over the four stakes races and the King’s Plate and reschedule them for Friday. It will be a spectacular card.”

[Real Quiet]

I wonder if they didn’t want to compete with the Travers

[Real Quiet]

Friday seems like an odd day to run

[JolyB]

Woodbine does seem to follow a different economic model than some other racetracks. It is tied closely to a large casino and entertainment complex, so the racing element is secondary, or perhaps treated as a draw to the casino and dining facilities. Other than King's Plate day, Woodbine offers free admission and parking every racing day. Anyone who has paid the admission fees at, say, Saratoga, would apprecate that.

A big race day on a Friday could draw fans who would come to the track after work for the stakes races, then stay for dinner and a couple of hours at the slots or table games. It could be marketed as such.