On Saturday, July 11, Century Mile Racetrack and Casino will host the $75,000 Century Mile Handicap as well as a special event in conjunction with the Horse Racing Women’s Association.

Billed as HRWA x Century Mile Day at the Races, the event is “a landmark gathering bringing together some of the most accomplished women in Thoroughbred racing for a day built around storytelling, education, networking and connection.”

With the big weekend on tap for the Edmonton track, let’s explore some things you might not know about Century Mile and some of the horses and people who make it special.

1) Century Mile opened for business April 1, 2019, in Leduc County, Alberta, next to Edmonton International Airport. It hosted its first live racing card later that month and offers Thoroughbred, Standardbred, and Quarter-Horse racing.

2) Century Mile effectively replaced Northlands Park, which according to the Edmonton Journal had hosted live Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing in Alberta from 1900 through Jan. 19, 2019. Northlands was renovated in 1995 and 2005, but the new state-of-the-art Century Mile facility funded by Century Casinos rejuvenated horse racing in Alberta.

3) The main track at Century Mile is a one-mile oval, compared with the five-eighths of a mile main track at Northlands, and now hosts the premier races that used to be held at Northlands Park, including the Canadian Derby.

4) Yves Turcotte serves as a steward at Century Mile. Yves is the younger brother of Ron Turcotte, the regular rider of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat. Yves recently won the 2026 Avelino Gomez Memorial Award given by Woodbine to a person (Canadian-born, Canadian-raised, or regular rider in the country for more than five years) who has made significant contributions to Thoroughbred racing. Yves Turcotte, who amassed 1,347 career wins as a jockey, won the award 42 years after his brother Ron, who died Aug. 22, 2025.

Two-time Alberta Horse of the Year Big Hug (Courtesy of Century Mile)

5) Big Hug is Alberta’s biggest active star! An Alberta-bred 6-year-old mare by Mr. Big, Big Hug on May 6 was awarded the 2025 Bob Clements Memorial Trophy as champion older mare and the Horse Racing Alberta Trophy as 2025 Horse of the Year, both for the second consecutive season. A 14-time stakes winner, Big Hug won four stakes in 2025 and placed in a pair of Grade 3 races at Santa Anita Park. Her favorite treats are banana-flavored Bear Paws.

6) Big Hug is slated to compete in the $50,000 R.K. (Red) Smith Handicap Saturday at Century Downs, where she will face only two challengers. Big Hug’s trainer, Rick Hedge, is one win away from 800 career wins. Before he took out his trainer’s license, Hedge was a jockey who won more than 1,600 races.

7) Western Canada Stakes winner Javier is blind in one eye. The 3-year-old Practical Joke gelding is trained by Carson Frey for owner Don Danard, and his nickname around the barn is “Red” after Red Pollard, the Edmonton-born jockey who went on to ride Seabiscuit and was also blind in one eye.

8) One of the rising stars at Century Mile is jockey Richard Balgobin, 18, who recently graduated from apprentice to journeyman rider. An apprentice, also known as a bug rider, is a jockey at the beginning of his or her career who has not ridden a certain number of winners within a specified period of time. In his second year riding in North America after emigrating from Trinidad and Tobago, Balgobin has won a pair of stakes during the current Century Mile meet aboard Rainbow's Pride and competes alongside his brother Ridge.

9) Century Mile offers player-friendly takeout rates of 14.75% for win-place-show bets and 15% for Daily Doubles and Pick 5s, so if you plan to bet this weekend’s races those wagers are a good focal point for your strategy.

10) In addition to horse racing, Century Mile also is a full-service casino with slot machines as well as electronic roulette, baccarat, and blackjack, and there are multiple dining options such as The Derby and Celly’s Sports Bar and Lounge.