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Woodbine horse racing heads in a new direction

Woodbine horse racing heads in a new direction

It’s going to be a unique turn, so to speak, on the 2016 Woodbine thoroughbred horse racing calendar, with a new twist being added to just over two dozen of the track’s turf racing events.

Traditionally, races in North America, including on the main track, are contested in a counterclockwise direction. Next year, however, the Toronto racetrack will card 25 races on the world-renowned E.P. Taylor Turf Course that will be run clockwise.

“At first, I think everyone thought I was crazy,” said Jim Lawson, Woodbine’s president and chief executive officer, in a Toronto Star article written by Jennifer Morrison. “But why not? We are in a very competitive world for that sports, entertainment and wagering dollar. We need to have innovative ways to attract fans, more horses and more horse people to Woodbine.”

So, the mantra of "turn left," at least in some instances, will be replaced with "turn right," once the track’s grass-racing season gets underway, typically in the third week of May. The 2016 live thoroughbred season opens April 9.

Trainer Mike De Paulo, who’ll retire his champion star Pender Harbour after the Valedictory Stakes on Sunday’s season-closing card at Woodbine, thinks fans will enjoy the new twist.

“From a fan’s perspective, it’s going to be unique and something I’m sure they’ll enjoy watching,” said De Paulo. “As a trainer, you’ll want to have your horses get used to running that way, so that they have a familiarity and comfort level with it. It’s such a fantastic turf course, something people who come out to the track love to watch the horses compete on. Hopefully, this will add some extra excitement to it.”

And hopefully, there won’t be any incidents reminiscent of the famous scene in the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles, when the directionally-challenged pair of John Candy and Steve Martin (in the pre-GPS era) go for a wild ride of their own.

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