Having split North America into two distinct countries – United States and Canada – the review of Canadian racetracks will be undertaken first on a province by province basis. This is the second article dealing with the province of Ontario, Canada’s busiest as regards harness racing.
MORE RECENTLY CLOSED ONTARIO TRACKS –
Elmira –
Elmira is the largest community within the township of Woolwich in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, 15 kms (9 miles) to the north of the city of Waterloo with a population exceeding ten thousand.
The predecessor to Grand River Raceway, the first harness races held at Elmira took place in 1890 with records from 1899. The half mile track opened in 1909 and closed in 2003. Elmira and now Grand River Raceway have implemented numerous features and facilities including
- Industry Day event
- inter-track betting in 1990
- combined race programming between Elmira and Greenwood Raceway in 1992.
- Ontario Teletheatre Network in 1994
- simulcasting of the track’s signal in 1997
- creation of Battle of Waterloo, one North America’s premier two-year-old races for pacing colts introduced in 1998, winners include Somebeachsomewhere
- introduction of telephone account betting in 2000
One of Elmira Raceway’s most notable race days took place over thirty five years ago on 1 July 1985. A meeting of sixteen invited drivers from throughout North America racing in ten events made for a very special race day at Elmira. The invited drivers were divided into eight teams based on their home track :
Team Greenwood – Steve Condren & Doug Brown
Team London – Fred Sadler & Ray McLean
Team Roosevelt – Buddy Gilmour & Mike LaChance
Team Meadowlands – John Campbell & Ron Waples
Team Kawartha – Carman Hie & Paul MacDonell
Team Elmira – Tom Strauss & Ross Battin
Team Windsor – Danny Johnson & Terry Kerr
Team Orangeville – Charles Lawson & Lloyd Spinks
Two of the drivers originally invited were unable to participate. Fred Sadler replaced Dave Wall and Carman Hie replaced Reg Gassien.
Racing in front of a crowd of 2,011 patrons who wagered a little over $155,000 through the pari mutuel windows, the actual driving competition involved ten races. Steve Condren led the way with three wins in four drives. Team Greenwood of Condren and Doug Brown were the clear winners with Team London’s Fred Sadler and Ray McLean in second place and the local Elmira team of Tom Strauss and Ross Battin filling third place. Seven drivers in addition to Condren won at least one race – Buddy Gilmour, Lloyd Spinks, Tom Strauss (two), Carman Hie, Fred Sadler, Charles Lawson and Ray McLean. The fastest mile of the day was recorded by Kawartha Outrun driven by Steve Condren for the Ralpat Stable of Caledon East taking home the winners share of the $1,500 stake.
Fort Erie –
Fort Erie was originally a dual code facility with a one mile track and an additional 3/16 mile for thoroughbred racing opened on 16 June 1897. The racetrack is often referred to as “the border oval” because of the track’s proximity barely a mile as the crow flies from the United States border.
The Fort Erie Jockey Club set the wheels in motion for thoroughbred racing at the border oval with President John Hood breaking the ground on 21 November 1896. Selected guests were asked to attend the Ground Breaking Ceremonies for the construction of the Fort Erie Race Track. The racetracks centrepiece is a beautiful infield, filled with flowers and scenic lakes.
The inaugural days racing on 16 June 1897 began with a $400 staked race won by Ellesmere (jockey : Sullivan) receiving $300 from Wordsworth ($75) second and Miss Lillian ($25) third. This was the start of a thirty four day summer meeting at Fort Erie followed by a sixteen day autumn meeting commencing on 6 September 1897.
Harness racing’s King George V event for trotters was held between 1901 and 1914 with Fort Erie sharing the running of this annual event with Buffalo, New York, USA. Fort Erie hosted on eight occasions including in 1903 when Grand Circuit performer Jay McGregor was the winner.
With the passing of the Miller Law in 1918 declaring taxes due every fourteen days, meetings were limited to two weeks duration. The Fort Erie track was at one time owned by the Cella family, owners of Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The track was sold to renowned Canadian horseman E. P. Taylor, acting on behalf of the Ontario Jockey Club in 1952. Fort Erie restricted to fourteen days racing annually was regarded as a “ramshackle” facility at that time. Taylor closed many of Ontario’s smaller tracks focusing on developing thoroughbred racing in Toronto and Fort Erie increasing Fort Erie’s summer racing season to forty two days and hiring horticulturist Gene Muma to transform the facility into “physically, the most beautiful race course in North America.”
In 1996 the Ontario government announced the opening of casinos to be operated by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) at racetracks across the province. The OLG directed 20% of the revenue from slot machines be given to the racetracks who responded by increasing stakes. This subsidy was removed in June 2012 resulting in Fort Erie announcing its track closure. A one year transition funding deal with the province enabled it to run the 2013 season.
A consortium led by American businessmen Carl Paladino, Joel Castle and Joe Mosey purchased the Fort Erie racetrack in August 2014 with Paladino stating he planned to invest in the track to capitalize on the construction of Canadian Motor Speedway.
At one stage, Paladino listed the approximately three hundred acre property for sale in several parcels with a total value of C$17.25 million. Following the 2018 election success of the Conservative party, Paladino announced that he would hold on to the race track. A nineteen year funding agreement between the Ontario government and Ontario Racing was reached in 2018.
The current racetrack consists of two tracks, the main outer track of approximately one mile in length (1,060 feet straight, oval in shape with two chutes allowing racing of varying lengths, the inside track is a turf course measuring seven furlongs. Live racing takes place on Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, the racing season starting in April and ending in October allowing for over one hundred days of thoroughbred racing each season.
Simulcast wagering and slot machine gambling are provided seven days a week with the Turfside Dining Room available for patrons. Dachshund racing was added to the track’s schedule in 2018; the success of the first race held that year led to the addition of a basset hound race in 2019.
Feature races run at Fort Erie include the Prince of Wales Stakes, first run in 1929 gaining prominence in 1959 when E.P. Taylor made it the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. The Puss N Boots Cup is run annually at the start of the autumn meeting while a number of other stakes races once run at Fort Erie have been transferred to Woodbine – the Bison City Stakes, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara for fillies and Summer Stakes
Garden City Raceway –
St. Catharine’s is the largest city in Canada’s Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in the province of Ontario with a metropolitan population in excess of four hundred thousand. Positioned in Southern Ontario, St Catharine’s is 51 kms (32 miles) south of Toronto across Lake Ontario and 19 kms (12 miles) inland from the USA border along the Niagara River.
St. Catharine’s harness racing’s history dates back to the mid-1800s but it was not until 26 October 1964 that the local five eighths of a mile Garden City raceway opened in St Catharine’s. Garden City was part of the Ontario Jockey Club’s (OJC) rotating circuit along with Greenwood Raceway (“Old Woodbine”) in Toronto and Mohawk Raceway in Campbellville. In the off-season, the track was used for the Kiwanis Horse Show, one of Canada’s largest for the variety of classes offered.
In 1976 the OJC introduced the self-automated cash betting system in North America and yet in the same year they closed St Catharine’s Garden City Raceway. Vestiges of the former track survived for a number of years with the grandstand demolished in 1984 while the spectator seats were used until 1998 in the grandstand overlooking the famous Henley Rowing Course.
Greenwood Raceway (“Old Woodbine”) –
Greenwood Raceway, originally known as the Woodbine Racetrack has a lengthy history in Toronto. Built by the Ontario Jockey Club (OJC), later changing its name to the Woodbine Entertainment Group (2001), this was the organization’s first racetrack to stage both thoroughbred and standardbred racing at the same facility in North America. It was Toronto’s only real metropolitan downtown track located on the waterfront.
Toronto’s Greenwood Raceway was built in 1874 as the Woodbine Race Course on Joseph Duggan’s property south of Queen St. between Coxwell Avenue and the foot of Woodbine Avenue along the shores of Lake Ontario in eastern Toronto. The track backed onto Lake Ontario and Ashbridge’s Bay prior to the construction of Lakeshore Blvd. It is Canada’s oldest racetrack initially owned and operated by Raymond Pardee and William J (Jiggs) Howell. The inaugural meeting held on 19 October 1875 featured trotting and thoroughbred races and steeplechasing. Harness racing was discontinued in 1894 returning in 1954 while steeplechase racing ceased in 1953.
Financial problems quickly resulted in the property reverting to its original landowner and retired innkeeper Joseph Duggan in the early 1880s. Duggan founded the Ontario Jockey Club (OJC) in 1881. The Queen’s Plate Canada’s oldest thoroughbred horse race founded in 1860, was first run at “Old” Woodbine in 1876, 1881 and 1883 – 1955 and at the “New” Woodbine since 1956. The ‘Old Woodbine’ nickname was received after the construction of the new facility in 1956. The facility hosted seasonal harness racing for standardbreds and flat racing events for thoroughbreds.
Harness racing dates were transferred from Thorncliffe Park Raceway to Old Woodbine to fill the gap between the spring and autumn thoroughbred meetings. The harness track was at the junction of Kingston Road and Queen Street East, with only a narrow strip of land between it and Lake Ontario. Thoroughbred racing continued at Old Woodbine on a shortened six-furlong (1,207 m) track. Harness racing was at first conducted on the thoroughbred track, but serious problems with mud including the starting gate being immobilized led to the construction of a five-furlong (1006 m) stone dust harness track inside the thoroughbred track. This track was known for its tight turns and long back and home straights.
King George VI became the first reigning monarch to witness the running of the King’s Plate at Woodbine in 1939. Led by directors Edward Plunket Taylor, George C. Hendrie and J.E. Frowde Seagram, the OJC in 1947 developed a plan to position Toronto on the same level as other racetracks in North America. By 1955, they had acquired and closed the southern Ontario tracks of Hamilton, Thorncliffe, Stamford and Orpen owned Long Branch and Dufferin Park which by 1956 were consolidated into Fort Erie, Old Woodbine and the soon to be constructed New Woodbine racetracks.
The OJC’s two Toronto based facilities were the new more extravagant thoroughbred track constructed in former Etobicoke called Woodbine Racetrack or ‘New Woodbine’ honouring its older sister track ‘Old Woodbine’ which was eventually decommissioned after 1956. Its 780 acres of land included a turf course, infield ponds, scenic waterfalls and modern facilities. The Old Woodbine facility was completely renovated and renamed Greenwood Raceway in 1963 hosting both standardbred (5/8ths mile track) and thoroughbred racing until its closure in 1993. Steeplechase races were held at Woodbine/Greenwood for a few years until 1953.
The inaugural prestige North American Cup for three year olds was held at Greenwood Raceway in 1984 (rebranded from the Queen City Pace first run in 1964) where through to 1993 winners had included Jate Lobell, Precious Bunny and Presidential Ball. The track also hosted prominent Canadian harness races :
- Canadian Pacing Derby – open pacers, 1965 – 1993, winners at Greenwood included Albatross, Direct Scooter, Cam Fella and Artsplace
- Fan Hanover Stakes for 3yo fillies, inaugural running at Greenwood in 1983 through to 1993’s winner Immortality
- Roses Are Red, fillies/mares inaugurated in 1980 at Greenwood; Fan Hanover and Shady Daisy among winners
- Maple Leaf Trot – open trotters, apart from first four years when run at Thornville Park, Greenwood hosted from 1954 until 1993 with winners including Speedy Crown, Delmonica Hanover, Grades Singing and three time winners Grandpa Jim and No Sex Please
- Canadian Trotting Classic, for three year old trotters first run at Greenwood in 1976 through to 1993 with winners including Joie de Vie, Armbro Goal and Giant Victory
- Burlington Pace/now Somebeachsomewhere – 3yo colts, 1964 – 1993, last Greenwood Park winner Life Sign
All of these races moved to the “New” Woodbine track in 1994 and more recently to Woodbine at Mohawk Park.
In 1993, Greenwood closed its doors with its final thoroughbred meeting held on 8 December 1993 and standardbreds on New Year’s Eve 31 December 1993. By 1994 all standardbred and thoroughbred operations had moved to the New Woodbine track. The stadium was demolished, replaced by residential and commercial developments on the south side of Queen east of Coxwell. The redevelopment of the Greenwood Raceway involved KLM Planning Partners Inc. with the preparation of a subdivision plan and related approvals for the 82 acre site located at Lake Shore Boulevard and Woodbine Avenue, Toronto. The plans featured the development of a large scale infill neighbourhood built on a grid road pattern taking advantage of the pleasant vistas of open space and Lake Ontario while providing neighbourhood parks and school facilities. The land sale for the housing development proved a financial gain for the OJC.
The housing development occupied half the property becoming Woodbine Park where in memory of the history of the track, nearby residential streets were named after famous thoroughbred horses: Northern Dancer Blvd and Winners Circle, a street which runs in a straight line unlike the former racetrack. Joseph Duggan Road was named after the historical landowner.
On 19 December 1997, the OJC opened its new 42,000 sq. ft. off-track betting facility at Greenwood to replace the raceway.
It was announced in 2016 that Live Nation Entertainment had purchased the Greenwood Off Track Wagering or Champions Greenwood, with the intent of repurposing the site into a medium sized entertainment venue with a capacity for 2,700 attendees. It now operates as the Greenwood Teletheatre with off track betting available.
New Hamburg –
New Hamburg is a community of approximately 12,000 in Wilmot Township, founded in 1854 as a rural township of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo in Ontario. The half mile Fountain Park raceway track operated from 1936 to 2007 when fire destroyed the New Hamburg grandstand. The Canadian Pacing Derby for open pacers was run at New Hamburg from 1936 to 1957 – The Count B won the race on four occasions (1944, 1945, 1947 and 1948).
Orangeville –
Orangeville is a town in south-central Ontario and the seat of Dufferin County with a population approaching thirty thousand. The Orangeville fairgrounds track operated from 1959 to 1992.
The Orangeville Agricultural Society’s (OAS) annual Fair had hosted horse racing since 1877. In 1969 a multi-year lease was signed by the Society and three long time trainers Waples, Keeling & Gillespie that allowed for an annual income which permitted an increase in prize money.
In 1986 the Raceway was in severe financial difficulty due to the level of inter track betting at Woodbine and Greenwood Raceways. The OAS placed any expansion plans on hold and on 10 January 1991 the Orangeville fairgrounds were sold to Harlington Developments which led to the cessation of harness racing there in 1992.
Quinte Raceway –
The Quinte Exhibition and Raceway established in 1821 has been the centre for community fairs and events for two centuries. Situated on Yeoman Street in Belleville, a city in Eastern Ontario on the eastern end of Lake Ontario at the mouth of Moira River on the Bay of Quinte. Belleville is between Ottawa and Toronto, along the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor.
Apart from harness racing it is the site of a number of agricultural fairs. The track and fair grounds are run by the committee members of the Belleville Agricultural Society so Quinte Exhibition and Raceway is run as a non-profit organization.
Every September Labour Day weekend the Belleville Exhibition is held, the long weekend running from Thursday to Monday when the exhibition festivities are combined with live harness racing – a blending of trade goods, livestock sales and racing.
The 800m racetrack with a speed rating of 2:03.4 was the venue for the local trotting club from 1940 to 2007. Live racing took place every Friday night during the season and holiday Mondays while simulcast racing was available every day of the week.
Ridgetown –
Ridgetown is a small community of three thousand located in south-east Chatham-Kent, Ontario home to the University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus.
Formerly known as the Ridgetown Raceway and Harwich Raceway when a one third mile dirt track was operational between 1951 – 1955 and from 1969 – 1978. A three eighths mile track was in play from 1983 – 1995. In all cases this was fair racing promoted by the Ridgetown Agricultural Society.
Strathroy –
Strathroy-Caradoc a municipality located in Southwestern Ontario thirty five kms west of London, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, approximately 200 kms (120 miles) from Toronto. A half mile/800m track operated from 1919 to 1964 at Strathroy.
Sudbury Downs –
Sudbury Downs Raceway was a harness racing track built on the farm of Médéric Bonin settled in the mid-19th century by the Bonin family. The land and its surrounding area was transformed from a dense hardwood forest into farmland for much of the nineteenth century. The track is located in Boninville now amalgamated with Greater Sudbury on Bonin Road between the communities of Azilda and Chelmsford.
Providing live harness racing for nearly forty years Sudbury Downs held its first meeting on its half mile track on 2 June 1974, usually with two race nights per week during the season on Wednesdays and Saturdays and ten to fourteen races each night. The final live harness meeting was run on 30 October 2013.
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) introduced slot machines at Sudbury Downs in 1999. The facility has a Slot Parlour (with full service Bar) containing a large number of slot machines but not a full casino. The main building includes a snack bar, Deli style sandwich bar and a Fine Dining restaurant open nights and special occasions.
Next Article : Further recently closed Ontario tracks – Windsor and Woodbine (standardbreds).
Peter Craig
1 June 2022
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
