Century Downs Racetrack and Casino will be hosting a Women In Racing weekend event celebrating the perseverance, determination and endurance of women in the horse racing industry.
The event will kick off on Friday, July 21 with a Leading Ladies Luncheon, hosted in Century Downs’s Homestretch Room, between 1-3 p.m., with a Q&A session on perseverance, determination and endurance starting at 2 p.m., followed by photo-ops and a flower presentation to other leading ladies making a mark in the industry.
Following the luncheon, a tour of the barns will commence, giving guests of the event a behind the scenes look at the daily ins and outs of drivers, trainers and support staff who are the life blood behind the sport of horse racing. A nine-race card of live harness racing will follow on Friday at Century Downs, with post time set for 5:15 p.m.
On Saturday, July 22, Century Downs will host a Calgary White Hat ceremony at approximately 2:30 p.m. The White Hat ceremony is a representation of friendship and welcoming in Calgary. Century Downs will welcome special guests Casie Coleman, Heather Vitale and Natasha Day.
Casie Coleman is a five-time recipient of Canada’s Trainer of the Year title and the only female to ever win the O’Brien Award for trainers. She’s made a name for herself across Canada and the U.S., winning more than 2,300 races. Among the champions she campaigned were Horses of the Year Michaels Power, Betting Line and McWicked, who was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2020.
A charismatic personality, Heather Vitale is currently the host of two popular television shows for the Standardbred sport -- Post Time and PA Harness Week. In addition to her local weekly productions, Vitale has covered racing nationally on CBS Sports, ESPN 2 and MAV-TV. With popular social media platforms, her work promoting the sport of harness racing has earned her two Broadcasting Excellence Awards from the United States Harness Writers Association, a Clyde Hirt Media Award, 2018 United States Harness Writers Association's Member of the Year and Best Media video feature by Harness Racing Victoria (Australia).
A recipient of the Western Fair Raceway's 2022 Ruth Herbert Horsewoman of The Year award, trainer/driver Natasha Day continues to work hard in changing the perception of women in horse racing. In 2022, Day defended her OLG Ontario Women’s Driving Championship title with an impressive six-race sweep of the final leg of the driving challenge. Born into a horse family in Queensland, Australia, Day moved to Canada to make her mark in horse racing. When speaking on getting individuals in the industry to notice her, Day has said, “You’ve got to let your driving do the talking.”
Day will do just that this weekend at Century Downs. Among her driving assignments, she will compete in Saturday's $7,500 Women In Racing Invitational Pace as a driver. The fourth of 11 races on the 1:15 p.m. program features horses trained only by women.
Saturday's card is also packed with stakes action with the Emerald Filly Pace and Norm Kennedy Memorial for two-year-olds as well as a pair of Alberta Sires Stakes finals for the three-year-olds.
To view this weekend's harness racing entries at Century Downs, click the following links: Friday Entries // Saturday Entries.