Standardbreds return with new gate, familiar faces, popular wagers

The return of live (spectator-free) racing at Woodbine Mohawk Park is coming in hot with full fields, a new starting gate, returning stars and more for an action-packed re-opening weekend.

A total of 22 races will be contested over Friday and Saturday evenings in Campbellville. Each card will offer plenty of full fields, much to the delight of horseplayers, and a Preferred contest to showcase some of the circuit’s top older horses.

The regular wagering menu, headlined by the $100,000 Early Pick-5 (starting Race 1), is back in play for the start of a big-money summer at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Here are a few notes and storylines to watch out for this weekend:

10 wide behind new slanted start car
The resumption of live racing will see Woodbine Mohawk Park revert to having horses starting from post position 10 lineup on the outside of the wings, rather than a trailing spot.

The fields will also now lineup behind a new slanted starting gate that offer horses with an outside starting spot more options to potentially use early speed and situate in a more favourable position. Slanted starting gates have been used by several tracks across North America and the new Woodbine vehicle has been used in recent qualifiers.

The popular $100,000 early Pick-5
Horseplayers from all over have made Woodbine Standardbred’s Early Pick-5 the most popular nightly wager in harness racing. The attractive multi-leg wager will continue to be offered in its regular spot at the start of each race card. The Early Pick-5, which offers a low 15 per cent takeout, has a guaranteed pool of $100,000 nightly and many nights prior to the April 3 lockdown the pool exceeded $120,000, including a $154,425 on the April 1 card.