2023 Western Canadian race schedules

Live harness racing schedules for 2023 have been released for most tracks located in the western provinces of Canada. All dates and times are subject to change, but the following is a brief breakdown of the schedules that have been released and the expected schedule for those that have yet to be released.

Alberta

Century Mile will conclude the winter meet on Feb. 4th and racing will be on hiatus in Alberta until Century Downs opens their racing calendar on March 11th. Century Downs is scheduled to host harness racing until Aug. 18th. Post time for all the Saturday cards is at 1:15 PM while Friday’s post time is at 5:15 PM local time. After the conclusion of racing at Century Downs, the horses will migrate north to Century Mile which starts on Sept. 9th. Century Mile’s last day of racing in 2023 will be on New Year’s Eve. Post time is scheduled for 6:15 PM local time for all dates. Track on 2’s schedule is still to be determined but if it is similar to last year’s expected to see racing to return in early July and the meet should go until mid-September.

Century Downs (Mar. 11- Aug 18th)

Breakdown by Day.

Friday: 15

Saturday: 23

Sunday:1

Thursday:1

Total Race Days: 40

Century Mile (Sept. 9th- Dec. 31st) 

Breakdown by Day

Saturday: 16

Friday:15

Sunday:1

Total Race Days: 32

Track on 2 (July-September)

Breakdown by Day (Based on 2022)

Sunday: 12

Wednesday: 3

Saturday: 1

Total Race Days: 16 

Total Alberta Race Days: 88 (estimated)

British Columbia 

Live racing returns to Fraser Downs on Feb. 2nd and the spring meet ends on May 5th. Fraser Downs fall meet starts on Sept. 14th and runs until Dec. 15th. Post time for all Thursday evening cards is set to be at 7:00 PM while most Fridays are also at that time with several being at 6:00 PM local time.

Fraser Downs (Feb. 2nd – May 5th/ Sept. 14th-Dec 15th)

Breakdown by Day

Thursday: 28

Friday: 28

Total British Columbia Race Days: 56

Manitoba 

Only two tentative race days have been announced in Manitoba so far. Miami Fair is set to host live racing on July 22nd and 29th. The remaining days are expected to be a the Loop in Winnipeg. There is still uncertainty about the completion of the new track but all indications are that the track will operational in 2023. The total amount of race days at the Loop in 2023 is still undetermined as local members are awaiting confirmation of funding. It can be expected that racing will take place mostly on Saturdays from June to September and post time will likely be at the usual 2:00 PM local time.

The Loop (June-September)

Breakdown by Day (Based on 2022 tentative schedule)

Saturday: 16

Miami Fair (July 22nd + 29th)

Breakdown by Day

Saturday: 2

Total Manitoba Race Days: 18 (estimated)

Saskatchewan 

Marquis Downs in Saskatoon hosted a harness racing meet in the fall of 2021 and another one in the spring of 2022. Now that the property is going to be used as a soccer facility for a Canadian Premier League expansion team, there is no track for either thoroughbreds or standardbreds. Moosomin First Nations secured a license to conduct racing, but construction of a new track has yet to start. The new track is intended for thoroughbreds racing with no current plans for harness racing. A couple of different avenues for harness racing to continue in Saskatchewan are being explored but nothing concrete to report on yet.

There will be live racing during all twelve months of the year in western Canada and there will be an estimated 162 race days in 2023. Unless something immediately changes in Saskatchewan, five tracks in three provinces will be in use to display the passion western Canadians have for the sport. Any changes or updates on schedules released or yet to be released will be passed along when the information is made available.

by Trey Colbeck, for Harnesslink