International horse racing: Canada

Woodbine Racetrack

Thoroughbreds race throughout Canada, in areas as diverse as Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and Prince Edward Island.

The majority of feature Canadian races are conducted at Woodbine, which hosts the first and final legs of the Canadian Triple Crown; the middle peg is run at Fort Erie. Northern Dancer, who became the darling of the country in the 1960s, was the first Canadian-bred horse to win the prestigious Kentucky Derby.

Northern Dancer in 1983 ‘The Dancer,’ who was also Canadian-owned, was the first nonhuman to be inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall Of Fame, back in 1965.

Woodbine, which opened in 1956, hosts flat thoroughbred and harness races.

Apart from the Queen’s Plate, the Breeders’ Stakes and the Canadian International, other notable races are held there, including the Woodbine Mile, Northern Dancer Turf Stakes, E.P. Taylor Stakes and the Nearctic Stakes. On the dirt in a leg of the Canadian Triple Crown

Racing first began at Fort Erie in 1897, with the track known as the border oval due to its proximity to the United States border.

Apart from the Prince of Wales Stakes, the second jewel of the Triple Crown, there aren’t that many other races run on this picturesque track - most main events have been moved to Woodbine.

The first leg of the Triple Crown is the Queen’s Plate, over 11/4miles; the second leg is the Prince of Wales Stakes, over 1 3/16 miles, with the final jewel of the Crown is the Breeders’ Stakes, over 1 1/2 miles.

Unlike the American Triple Crown, the Crown races in Canada are all held on different surfaces. The first, the Queen’s Plate, is run on Polytrack, the Prince of Wales Stakes takes place on dirt, and the Breeders’ Stakes is a turf event.