During the 1950s, the brand new OJC, underneath the leadership regarding Canadian industrialist and you will horse breeder Age

They dropped the fresh new inside the 1963

Woodbine Racetrack try a race track having Thoroughbred pony rushing within the the new Etobicoke total casino section of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Belonging to Woodbine Enjoyment Class, Woodbine Racetrack manages and you will machines Canada's most famous competition, the new King's Plate. The latest tune is started in the 1956 that have a-one-mile egg-shaped mud song, together with a great seven-eights lawn course. [ 1 ] It's been extensively renovated because the 1993, and because 1994 has had around three racecourses. [ 2 ]

Records

The modern Woodbine offers title to start with utilized by a great racetrack and that operated in the the southern area of Toronto, in the Queen Street East and you may Kingston Roadway, away from 1874 as a result of 1993. (Because Dated Woodbine Race-course was at the new south prevent out of Woodbine Avenue, the modern Woodbine was nowhere near it.) Inside the 1951, it was operated because of the Ontario Jockey Bar (OJC) and you can kept the new esteemed King's Dish, but it competed with many most other racetracks inside the Ontario and you may is trying to find modernization. [ twenty-three ]

P. Taylor, began a course away from racetrack acquisitions geared towards is the largest and more than profitable agent in the Ontario pony racing, just like Taylor's prior to purchases and you may consolidations in the Canadian brewing industry. Within the 1952, the new OJC purchased and you can finalized the cash-shedding Thorncliffe Playground, [ 4 ] purchased and signed the fresh new Hamilton Racetrack, and you can ordered the latest Fort Erie Racetrack to have Ca$780,000 . [ four ] Home improvements began quickly within Fort Erie as well as Woodbine, funded by the a public offering away from inventory for Ca$2 billion . [ 12 ]

During the 1953, the fresh OJC bought Stamford Park inside the Stamford township (today section of Niagara Drops, Ontario). It actually was signed and later redeveloped towards a residential subdivision. For the 1955, Taylor themselves bought the fresh new fighting Orpen-had Dufferin Playground Racetrack and you can Much time Branch Racetracks getting California$four million ($forty-two.six mil within the 2023 bucks) [ 5 ] . [ six ] The brand new Orpen music was basically signed and redeveloped, and also the Orpen battle charters gone to live in the brand new OJC. The brand new OJC proceeded the fresh Canadian Worldwide and Cup and saucer stakes events that were stored in the Orpen tracks. [ 7 ] The newest rushing charters obtained on other tunes allowed the latest OJC to perform 196 times of racing, over double their welcome full regarding 84 months inside 1952. [ 3 ]

Most of the work from the racetrack acquisitions and you can closures was in fact customized to support a different sort of “supertrack”. In the 1952, the fresh new OJC understood the latest located area of the racetrack within Street twenty seven eastern of your own Toronto airport and you can purchased over eight hundred miles (160 ha). The newest designer chose was Earle C. Morgan. Even if Morgan had not customized an effective racetrack, the guy spent next a couple of years developing the proper execution hand-in-hand with Arthur Froelich, who'd tailored Hollywood Playground Racetrack and you can Backyard Condition Park Racetrack in the usa. [ 8 ] The fresh new tune was created to hold 40,000 visitors, features good vehicle parking, three race programmes and two degree tracks. It got stable area for 1,000 ponies and you will room to have 700 professionals. The newest grandstand, designed to score as many people as near on the become range you could, incorporated several food and you can cafeterias. [ 9 ] Framework on the the fresh supertrack first started for the 1955.

The fresh racetrack exposed into the June a dozen, 1956, centered at a cost off Ca$13 mil ($143 million within the 2023 bucks). [ 5 ] [ 10 ] It actually was very first known as the The fresh Woodbine Racetrack. The outdated tune was transformed into a combined thoroughbred and you will standardbred tune identified afterwards since Old Woodbine or, for the majority of your remainder of their background, since the Greenwood Raceway (throughout standardbred fits) and you may Greenwood Race track (while in the thoroughbred suits). The two thoroughbred and two standardbred fits held at Greenwood were gone to live in the latest Woodbine in the 1994, which was before this entirely based on thoroughbred racing. To the Summer thirty, 1959, Queen Elizabeth II while the Duke out of Edinburgh went to the latest 100th powering of your own Queen's Plate, [ 11 ] and you can King E II once more on the , went to the newest 151st powering of one's Queen's Plate Bet and exhibited trophies.