Chris Husbands, Fort Erie Race Track’s 2025 Top Jockey, guides Clarayouthebest across the finish line to win the Crimson Maple Cup, the final race of the season, Tuesday evening at the track.Photo courtesy Michael Burns Photography
Preparations underway for return to racing in 2026
A full card of exciting races helped Fort Erie Race Track close out its 2025 season on Tuesday with one of its strongest wagering days of the year.
Total wagering on Closing Day topped $1.6 million, a number which was boosted by the addition of two brand new cup races that helped attract large horse fields, and drew plenty of bettors to the wagering windows. The final race of the season, the $30,000 guaranteed Crimson Maple Cup, was captured by jockey Chris Husbands, capping off an incredible comeback season for the Fort Erie veteran.
“Going into that first turn, I was a bit back, I had to check out but it was okay because I didn’t really want to be on the inside anyway, but then when I got the chance to drop back in down the stretch, I went for it, and it turned out exactly how I wanted,” said Husbands after the race. The cup victory marked Husbands’ third win of the day, pushing him well into the lead to hold onto the track’s Top Jockey title for the 2025 season at Fort Erie. Winning the title was no small feat for Husbands in his incredible comeback season, after spending most of the 2024 season on the sidelines with an injury.
“When I first came back to Fort Erie, it was hard to find my focus again, but my agent, Paul Souter, he kept pushing, he kept me going, kept me working, and now here we are,” said Husbands, who also gave props to local trainers Mark Fournier and Joe Humber for believing in him and giving him opportunities to ride in his comeback season and claim the Top Jockey title.
In face of new regulations which impacted how often horses can race, Fort Erie Race Track still managed to put up strong numbers on the board, with a season average of $141,000 wagered per race – the track’s third highest on record – despite the tighter rules forcing the track to run 35 fewer races than last season. Total wagering on the 2025 season reached $37 million, which marks a considerable increase from the start of the track’s seven-year racing contract with the province, when total wagering topped out at $28 million back in 2019.
The track found major success this year with its special events, including a packed house of nearly 10,000 spectators for each of its key days, including the Father’s Day meet in June and the popular Wiener Dog and Corgi Races in July and August, before celebrating the milestone 90th running of the Prince of Wales Stakes in September, where wagering hit $2.85 million, the fourth highest in history.
“Despite horse supply issues which are putting pressure on the industry at every race track in Ontario, we pulled off a great season of racing here at Fort Erie,” said general manager Drew Cady. “We’d like to thank our horsemen for sticking with us and believing in Fort Erie Race Track, supporting our legacy, and we look forward to welcoming them back for another season of racing next year.”
