Woodbine Entertainment, New York Racing Association Inc. stage Empire Trillium Series

Jockey Mickey Walls rides Breeders' Stake contender "It Is Hi" over the E.P.Taylor turf course in preperation for Sunday's race at Woodbine Racetrack,Toronto Ont. on Thursday August 12, 1999. (CP PHOTO/Michael Burns)

TORONTO — Woodbine Racetrack will stage six races in 2027 as part of the new Empire Trillium Series.

Woodbine Entertaining and the New York Racing Association, Inc., unveiled the $3.2 million, 14-race program that will be restricted to hoses foaled in New York and Canada. Racing will begin at Belmont Park with eight stakes starting in December.

Belmont Park is scheduled to reopen Sept. 18 following the completion of a US$455-million transformation.

A new grandstand will accommodate up to 9,000 spectators while four new tracks are being constructed: a traditional 1 1/2-mile dirt main track, two turf courses, and a one-mile Tapeta oval that will serve as the surface for winter racing.

The Empire Trillium Series will head to Woodbine Racetrack in 2027 for six stakes races -- four on Tapeta, the others on turf — from April to July.

The events at Woodbine will be for three year-olds and up and include two $300,000 races, one each for colts and fillies, over one mile on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2026.