Inside the 1950s, the fresh OJC, in leaders out of Canadian industrialist and you will horse breeder Age

They decrease the brand new within the 1963

Woodbine Racetrack was a race track to own Thoroughbred pony rushing inside the brand new Etobicoke area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Belonging to Woodbine Entertainment Classification, Woodbine Racetrack handles and you will hosts Canada’s most famous competition, the brand new King’s Dish. The fresh tune are exposed in the 1956 which have a single-distance oval mud song, together with a good eight-eights yard direction. [ 1 ] It has been extensively refurbished while the 1993, and since 1994 has experienced around three racecourses. [ 2 ]

Records

The modern Woodbine sells title to start with used by a great racetrack and therefore manage inside southeast Toronto, during the King Path East and you can Kingston Road, off 1874 because of 1993. (Because the Old Woodbine Race-course was at the fresh southern area stop off Woodbine Opportunity, the modern Woodbine was no place near they.) Within the 1951, it absolutely was manage because of the Ontario Jockey Club (OJC) and you can held the latest prestigious King’s Plate, nonetheless it competed with many most other racetracks inside Ontario and you may is actually in need of modernization. [ twenty-three ]

P. Taylor, began a course away from racetrack acquisitions geared towards getting the most significant and most profitable driver inside Ontario pony racing, like Taylor’s prior to acquisitions and you may consolidations from the Canadian Gaming Club preparing industry. Inside 1952, the fresh new OJC ordered and you will closed the money-dropping Thorncliffe Playground, [ four ] ordered and you will signed the fresh Hamilton Racetrack, and you may ordered the brand new Fort Erie Racetrack having California$780,000 . [ four ] Renovations began immediately from the Fort Erie at Woodbine, financed because of the a community providing away from stock to have Ca$2 million . [ 12 ]

Within the 1953, the fresh new OJC ordered Stamford Park during the Stamford township (today part of Niagara Drops, Ontario). It was closed and later redeveloped on the a residential subdivision. Within the 1955, Taylor himself purchased the fresh competing Orpen-possessed Dufferin Park Racetrack and you can Much time Department Racetracks getting California$4 million ($forty-two.6 million for the 2023 dollars) [ 5 ] . [ six ] The new Orpen music were finalized and you may redeveloped, plus the Orpen race charters transferred to the newest OJC. The brand new OJC proceeded the brand new Canadian Around the world and you can Cup and saucer stakes racing that were held at the Orpen tracks. [ seven ] The brand new rushing charters gotten regarding other music allowed the fresh new OJC to perform 196 days of rushing, more than twice the invited overall regarding 84 months during the 1952. [ 12 ]

Every services from the racetrack purchases and closures were customized to support a new “supertrack”. Inside 1952, the new OJC identified the brand new precise location of the racetrack in the Highway twenty-seven eastern of your Toronto airport and you may purchased more than eight hundred acres (160 ha). The latest architect chose is actually Earle C. Morgan. Even if Morgan hadn’t customized an excellent racetrack, he spent another a couple of years development the proper execution hand-in-hand which have Arthur Froelich, that has designed Hollywood Park Racetrack and you will Lawn State Park Racetrack in america. [ 8 ] The newest track was created to keep 40,000 spectators, provides big vehicle parking, three competition programs as well as 2 knowledge songs. They got stable room for just one,000 ponies and rooms getting 700 teams. The new grandstand, built to score as many people as close for the end line that one can, provided several food and cafeterias. [ 9 ] Build for the the brand new supertrack first started for the 1955.

The newest racetrack opened towards Summer 12, 1956, dependent at a high price of California$13 mil ($143 billion during the 2023 bucks). [ 5 ] [ 10 ] It actually was 1st known as the The latest Woodbine Racetrack. The outdated tune are changed into a combined thoroughbred and standardbred tune known afterwards as the Dated Woodbine or, for the majority of of your own rest of their record, because the Greenwood Raceway (during standardbred meets) and Greenwood Race track (while in the thoroughbred matches). The two thoroughbred and two standardbred fits conducted from the Greenwood had been moved to the fresh new Woodbine in the 1994, which was until then entirely based on thoroughbred racing. For the June thirty, 1959, Queen Age II as well as the Duke out of Edinburgh attended the new 100th running of Queen’s Dish, [ eleven ] and Queen E II again into the , went to the latest 151st running of your own Queen’s Dish Limits and you may demonstrated trophies.