Horse Racing Women’s Association brings Day at the Races to Edmonton

A one-day program in Edmonton will put women in racing in front of the horses, the panel table and the wagering menu at once. The Horse Racing Women’s Association will stage Day at the Races at Century Mile on July 11, using live racing, handicapping and networking to see whether a focused day can widen the sport’s pipeline in Western Canada.

The choice of venue is not accidental. Century Mile Racetrack and Casino sits next to Edmonton International Airport and is Western Canada’s only Class-A one-mile racetrack, making it an easy target for out-of-town attendees and a practical gathering point for industry people who want more than a social event. The racetrack’s own profile includes live Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse and Standardbred racing year-round, along with slots, VLTs and electronic table games, giving the program a built-in fan-facing setting with real wagering relevance.

The numbers help explain why Alberta is the first Canadian stop for the HRWA. Women account for about 33 percent of Thoroughbred trainers at Century Mile and roughly 28 percent at Rocky Mountain Turf Club, figures drawn from 2025 Equibase trainer standings. Century Mile general manager Ken Maheden has already pointed to Alberta as one of the strongest female-trainer markets in North America, which gives the event a useful test case: can one day of visibility, education and face-to-face access translate into more recruitment, more contacts and more women moving deeper into the sport?

HRWA says the Edmonton program will run as an afternoon and evening of handicapping, races, networking and celebrating women in racing. The featured HerWay Talk panel will include Jodie Vella-Gregory of 1/ST Racing, trainer Barbara Anderson-Heads, Jockey Club of Canada steward Hazel Bennett, assistant trainer Jodie Hiesinger and moderator Stephanie Hronis of Hronis Racing. Jentry van Baal and Kelli Hemingson will lead the handicapping seminar, and one HRWA listing says the mythical handicapping contest will cover five races.

The event also fits into a broader effort to move women from the margins of racing conversation into the center of the business. HRWA was founded in 2022 after its first summit at Santa Anita Park, became a year-round association in 2025 and unveiled a new logo on May 13, 2025. Horse Racing Alberta said the province’s horse racing and breeding industry generated $312 million in economic impact in 2024, and it has partnered with CAREERS: The Next Generation to place high school students in internships at Century Mile. That makes the Edmonton stop more than a networking date. It is a live test of whether racing can build measurable pathways into jobs, ownership, training barns and the backstretch, one afternoon at a time.