Woodbine racetrack canceled the final two races on its stakes-laden Saturday card following two fatal breakdowns on the artificial Tapeta track, including a runner in the Grade 3, US $110,000 Bessarabian Stakes.

Woodbine Entertainment, the operator of the Canadian racetrack in Etobicoke, Ontario, near Toronto, provided few details on the reason for the cancellation in a news release late Saturday afternoon.

“Following consultation with the HBPA, Jockeys’ Guild and (farm equipment manufacturer) AGCO, Woodbine Entertainment cancelled the remainder of Saturday’s Thoroughbred race card (Races 9 & 10) in the best interest of equine safety,” it said.

But Woodbine Entertainment said in separate posts on X.com that Social Dancer and Owen’s Tour Guide were injured during the second and eighth races, respectively, and were humanely euthanized as a result.

It extended “sincere condolences” to the connections of both horses and noted that jockeys David Moran, the rider of Social Dancer, and Jose Campos aboard Owen’s Tour Guide were both OK after the incidents.

It noted in the news release that the Grade 2 Autumn Stakes, one of the canceled races, would be rescheduled as drawn on Nov. 16.

Owen’s Tour Guide, a 6-year-old graded-stakes-placed daughter of Tourist trained by W. V. Armata, had amassed a record of 38: 7-3-6 and earnings of nearly $275,000 US in her career for owner Tequesta Racing.

The Equibase chart for the Bessarabian said she was racing four wide in the third flight of horses on the far turn when she “took a misstep at the quarter pole, fell, dislodging the rider, and left via equine ambulance.”

Social Dancer, a 3-year-old filly trained by Michael Doyle for owner-breeder C. Scott Abbott Racing Stable, was making her third start in a maiden-optional claiming race earlier on the card, when she “took an awkward step nearing the half-mile pole, was eased, pulling up at the five-sixteenth maker and left via equine ambulance,” according to the Equibase chart.

Tapeta, a Thoroughbred racing and training surface comprised of a carefully selected mixture of the finest silica sand, wax and fibers, is used at racetracks around the world and has long been considered safer than dirt of turf for racing, according to manufacturer Tapeta Footings Inc. One of its other big advantages is that it handles wet weather and heavy rainfall extremely well, according to the Tapeta Footings website.