Woodbine Thoroughbred Meet | Horse Racing Free Tips

With a record closing day handle of $8,530,593, Woodbine's 2021 Thoroughbred meet concluded Sunday with meet titles for trainer Mark Casse, jockey Kazushi Kimura, and owner Gary Barber. Casse secured the leading training title with 110 wins from his 539 starts and earnings of $8,189,186. Martin Drexler trailed in second by wins with 56. It was Casse's 13th time atop the Woodbine leaderboard and his 27 stakes victories at the Toronto oval in 2021 were 19 more than his closest rival. Casse, who is a member of the Hall of Fame in both the U.S. and Canada, has won Canada's Sovereign Award as the country's top trainer 13 times.

In contrast, Kimura was earning his first Woodbine jockey title. The 22-year-old is the first Japanese-born rider to achieve the feat. He notched 138 wins at the meet from 717 starts, including wins in eight black-type events, with $6,360,203 in earnings. The Eclipse Award winner as North America's outstanding apprentice, Kimura also won the Sovereign Award equivalent in both 2018 and 2019.

“It's a special achievement, and it was one of my dreams,” said Kimura. “Everybody wants to be a leading rider, but it's not easy. We just need great riding skills and good horses, good support from the trainers and owners for the whole season to be able to get the title. This year, I'd say I improved, and I got good support from trainers and owners. I appreciate that help for me to get the riding title.”

Barber was the leading money-winning owner at Woodbine for the third straight year although official statistics were not immediately available. Live racing will return next spring to the Toronto oval with opening day tentatively scheduled for the penultimate weekend in April.

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All-sources handle was down more than $50 million at $462,041,545.76 compared to $516,189,419.44 in 2019 for Woodbine’s shortened 2020 Thoroughbred meet, which started late and concluded early due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The meet ran 96 days with the start being pushed back from Apr. 18 to June 6 and the end date moved up from Dec. 13 to Nov. 22. The abbreviated meet resulted in 35 less race days and 305 less races.

“Like many businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted our business and the entire horse racing industry in Ontario,” said Jim Lawson, CEO, Woodbine Entertainment. “However, I am very proud of how we responded and look forward to working with all of our stakeholders as we continue to manage the ongoing impacts caused by the pandemic.”

In Woodbine’s home market area, wagering on Woodbine Thoroughbred racing was $54,810,867.06, down 41% compared to last year. In 2019, Woodbine Racetrack contributed $28 million to the all-sources handle on Thoroughbred racing. This year, Woodbine Racetrack only contributed $124,000 to the overall handle due to being closed to the public for most of the year.

However, wagering on Woodbine Thoroughbred racing continued to be strong in foreign markets, generating $391,395,974.30 in all-sources handle, which is down less than 3%, despite running 27% fewer race cards. Handle per race was also strong at $509,417.36, up 19.6% year over year. Field size per race was 8.9, up from 8.2 the year prior.

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