The Coronation Futurity Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old horses foaled in Canada. It is run annually in mid-November at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario , Canada at a distance of 1 + 1 ⁄ 8 miles. Along with its turf counterpart, the Cup and Saucer Stakes , the Coronation Futurity is the richest race for two-year-olds foaled in Canada.
31-596: Inaugurated in 1902 at Toronto's Old Woodbine Racetrack , it was created in celebration of the August 9, 1902 coronation of Edward VII of the United Kingdom . The winner of the race often becomes the early favorite for next year's Queen's Plate , though the last horse to win both races was Norcliffe in 1975. The 1963 winner was Northern Dancer who would go on to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and become
62-399: A natural dirt surface prior to that. Two chutes facilitate races at seven furlongs [.875 miles (1.408 km)] and at 1.25 miles (2.01 km). The innermost oval was originally a 7/8-mile [.875 miles (1.408 km)] grass oval until the E. P. Taylor turf course opened in 1994. It was then converted to a crushed limestone dirt course and was used for harness racing until April 2018. It
93-501: A racetrack, he spent the next two years developing the design in conjunction with Arthur Froelich , who had designed Hollywood Park Racetrack and Garden State Park Racetrack in the United States. The new track was designed to hold 40,000 spectators, have ample parking, three race courses and two training tracks. It had stable space for 1,000 horses and rooms for 700 employees. The grandstand, designed to get as many people as close to
124-452: A variety of distances: The race was run on a natural dirt surface until Woodbine installed a synthetic dirt surface in 2006. In 2016, the surface was Tapeta; it was Polytrack between 2006 and 2015. Speed record: (at current distance of 1 + 1 ⁄ 8 miles) Most wins by an owner: Most wins by a jockey : Most wins by a trainer : Old Woodbine Racetrack Greenwood Raceway (originally Woodbine Race Course )
155-412: Is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long with a chute allowing races of 1.125 miles (1.811 km) to be run around one turn. It is irregularly shaped, the clubhouse turn departing from the traditional North American oval, and the backstretch is from 2.5 feet (76 cm) to 3 feet (91 cm) higher than the homestretch. The Taylor turf course and the main dirt course at Belmont Park on New York's Long Island are
186-552: Is a race track for Thoroughbred horse racing in the Etobicoke area of Toronto , Ontario , Canada. Owned by Woodbine Entertainment Group , Woodbine Racetrack manages and hosts Canada's most famous race, the King's Plate . The track was opened in 1956 with a one-mile oval dirt track, as well as a seven-eights turf course. It has been extensively remodeled since 1993, and since 1994 has had three racecourses. The current Woodbine carries
217-565: Is open 24 hours a day. In 2019, construction began to expand the casino to include an entertainment venue, retail shops and a hotel. Woodbine has been a regular host for the Breeders Crown . Since the event changed to a one-night format in 2010, the facility has hosted three times—2011, 2012, and 2015. Woodbine was also the host of the CA$ 1,500,000 North America Cup for three-year old pacing colts and geldings from 1994–2006. That race along with
248-528: The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame . In 2018, the track began using a GPS-based timing system. In 2022, Woodbine announced plans to add an 8,000-seat soccer-specific stadium and adjoining training facilities in the northeast corner of the property; this would be the presumed new home of York United FC and possibly house a future professional women's soccer club. The outermost E. P. Taylor turf course for thoroughbreds, completed in 1994,
279-796: The Jockeys' Guild and the AGCO . The incidents include a breakdown of an unnamed horse during a workout , the 3-year-old filly Social Dancer (Society's Chairman)'s awkward step at the half-mile marker and in the GIII Bessarabian Stakes , the 6-year-old mare Owen's Tour Guide (Tourist)'s wrong step , resulting in their euthanasia . Casino Woodbine opened in 1999, offering a slots parlor and later expanded to table games in 2018. It contains 100+ table games, 3,500+ slot machines, 220+ electronic table games, and 100+ dealer assist stadium gaming. Table games include blackjack, roulette and baccarat. It
310-787: The Orpen -owned Dufferin Park and Long Branch race tracks. By 1956, the OJC operated just three facilities, consisting of the Fort Erie Racetrack in Fort Erie, Ontario , and two facilities in Toronto. A new facility for Thoroughbred horse races was constructed in Etobicoke and given the name Woodbine Racetrack . The old facility was completely renovated and renamed Greenwood Raceway in 1963. It held both harness racing and Thoroughbred racing meets until its closure at
341-763: The Elegant Image Stakes for three-year old filly trotters and the Good Times Stakes for three-year old colt and gelding trotters, have been moved to Woodbine's sister track, Woodbine Mohawk Park . Starting in 2018, all standardbred racing has been moved to Woodbine Mohawk, as the 7/8 standardbred track is being converted into a 2nd turf course. Jk Shesalady Y. Gingras/N. Johansson 08/30/2014 Thinking Out Loud Sweet Lou R. Waples/B. McIntosh D. Palone/R. Burke 06/16/2012 06/09/2012 Bee A Magician R. Zeron/R. Norman 09/13/2013 Canepa Hanover Y. Gingras/J. Takter 06/12/15 The record for most wins by
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#1732868613859372-517: The Hamilton Racetrack, and purchased the Fort Erie Racetrack for CA$ 780,000 . Renovations began immediately at Fort Erie and at Woodbine, financed by a public offering of stock for CA$ 2 million . In 1953, the OJC bought Stamford Park in Stamford township (now part of Niagara Falls, Ontario ). It was closed and later redeveloped into a residential subdivision. In 1955, Taylor himself purchased
403-415: The OJC to run 196 days of racing, more than double its allowed total of 84 days in 1952. All of the efforts at racetrack acquisitions and closures were designed to support a new "supertrack". In 1952, the OJC identified the new location of the racetrack at Highway 27 east of the Toronto airport and bought over 400 acres (160 ha). The architect chosen was Earle C. Morgan. Although Morgan had not designed
434-950: The Plate Trials but worked out between the two divisions of the Trials. Their times were faster than the times of either of the trial divisions. Greenwood Raceway was the site of the Canadian Pacing Derby , the North America Cup , the Fan Hanover Stakes , the Maple Leaf Trot , and the Canadian Trotting Classic . In 1994, the Thoroughbred and harness operations were moved to Woodbine Racetrack in Etobicoke. The stadium
465-451: The Queen's Plate, and Queen Elizabeth II again on July 4, 2010, attended the 151st running of the Queen's Plate Stakes and presented trophies. The track was the opening venue for the 1976 Summer Paralympics , and some of the sporting events were held here. The Arlington Million was held at Woodbine in 1988. The Breeders' Cup was held at Woodbine in 1996. The Woodbine facility is also home to
496-586: The competing Orpen -owned Dufferin Park Racetrack and Long Branch Racetracks for CA$ 4 million ($ 44.6 million in 2023 dollars) . The Orpen tracks were closed and redeveloped, and the Orpen race charters transferred to the OJC. The OJC continued the Canadian International and Cup and Saucer stakes races that had been held at the Orpen tracks. The racing charters acquired from the other tracks enabled
527-476: 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 homestretches. In the early 1950s, the Ontario Jockey Club, led by directors E. P. Taylor , George C. Hendrie and J. E. Frowde Seagram , undertook an acquisition and consolidation program for southern Ontario racing. The OJC bought and closed
558-504: The end of 1993. Steeplechase races were held at Woodbine/Greenwood for a few years, and there was a Thoroughbred race announcer by the name of Foster "Buck" Dryden for several years. A horse by the name of Last Mark (owned by James G. Fair of Cainsville, Ontario) won the "Plate" in 1948, setting a new Plate record and only being equalled once before the track was decommissioned. R.J. Speers' horse, Lord Fairmond, came second in that Plate race. Fair had two horses in that Plate which never ran in
589-564: The finish line as possible, included several restaurants and cafeterias. Construction on the new supertrack began in 1955. The new racetrack opened on June 12, 1956, built at a cost of CA$ 13 million ($ 143 million in 2023 dollars). It was initially known as the New Woodbine Racetrack. It dropped the New in 1963. The old track was converted to a combined thoroughbred and standardbred track known thereafter as Old Woodbine or, for most of
620-400: The harness meets. The 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 the racetrack on a shortened six- furlong (1,207 m) track. Harness races were at first conducted on the Thoroughbred track, but serious problems with mud (including the starting gate being immobilized) led to
651-488: The most important sire of the 20th century. Of note, his young jockey that day was future Canadian and U.S. Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte who, ten years later, would ride Secretariat to victory in the U.S. Triple Crown series. Sunny's Halo won the 1982 edition of the Coronation Futurity and went on to win the following year's Kentucky Derby. Since inception, the Coronation Futurity has been contested at
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#1732868613859682-539: The name originally used by a racetrack which operated in southeast Toronto, at Queen Street East and Kingston Road, from 1874 through 1993. (While the Old Woodbine Race Course was at the south end of Woodbine Avenue , the current Woodbine is nowhere near it.) In 1951, it was operated by the Ontario Jockey Club (OJC) and held the prestigious King's Plate , but it competed with several other racetracks in Ontario and
713-517: The only mile-and-a-half layouts in North American thoroughbred racing. In 2016, Woodbine will contest up to 40 turf races running clockwise (right-hand turns) in what are being billed as "EuroTurf" races. Inside the Taylor course is the 1 mile (1.6 km) synthetic course for Thoroughbreds. Since April 9, 2016, the surface has been Tapeta ; it was Polytrack from August 31, 2006 through 2015, and
744-491: The original landowner and retired innkeeper. In 1881, Duggan helped found the Ontario Jockey Club (OJC). The facility hosted seasonal harness racing for Standardbred horses and flat racing events for Thoroughbreds . Harness racing dates were transferred to the racetrack from Thorncliffe Park Raceway to fill the gap between the spring and fall thoroughbred meets, and the track was known as Greenwood Raceway during
775-480: The property became Woodbine Park with a water fountain feature in a man-made pond. It is separated from Woodbine Beach by Lake Shore Boulevard. In 2016, it was announced that Live Nation Entertainment had purchased the other half of the property (known as Greenwood Off Track Wagering or Champions Greenwood) with the intent of repurposing the site into a medium-sized entertainment venue with a capacity of 2,700 attendees. Woodbine Racetrack Woodbine Racetrack
806-453: The rest of its history, as Greenwood Raceway (during standardbred meets) and Greenwood Race Track (during thoroughbred meets). The two thoroughbred and two standardbred meets conducted at Greenwood were transferred to the new Woodbine in 1994, which was until then exclusively devoted to thoroughbred racing. On June 30, 1959, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh attended the 100th running of
837-506: The top of the stretch. This was used for several major races, including Secretariat 's final race in the 1973 Canadian International , until the entire E. P. Taylor course was completed in 1994. In November 2024, Woodbine cancelled its November 10 final 2 racecard after three catastrophic injuries on the Tapeta track surface as a precautionary approach . It consulted the National HBPA ,
868-452: Was a horse racing facility in Toronto , Ontario , Canada. Inaugurated in 1874 as Woodbine Race Course at the foot of Woodbine Avenue and Lake Ontario , it was owned and operated by Raymond Pardee and William J. "Jiggs" Howell. The facility's land was mostly owned by Jesse Ashbridge and C.C. Small. Within a few years, financial problems resulted in the property reverting to Joseph Duggan,
899-410: Was demolished and replaced by residential and commercial development, including a betting parlour.To commemorate the history of the site, two of the new residential roadways were given names that reflected horse racing themes: Northern Dancer Blvd. (in honour of the famous thoroughbred Northern Dancer ) and Winners Circle. Joseph Duggan Road was named after the historical landowner. The southern half of
930-507: Was in need of modernization. During the 1950s, the OJC, under the leadership of Canadian industrialist and horse breeder E.P. Taylor , began a program of racetrack acquisitions aimed at becoming the biggest and most profitable operator in Ontario horse racing, similar to Taylor's earlier acquisitions and consolidations in the Canadian brewing industry. In 1952, the OJC purchased and closed the money-losing Thorncliffe Park , purchased and closed
961-400: Was then converted back to a second turf course for the 2019 thoroughbred racing season. The first race on the new Inner Turf was run on June 28, 2019 and was won by Bold Rally with Eurico Rosa da Silva aboard. Portions of the current E. P. Taylor turf course (the backstretch and far turn) originally formed part of a long turf chute that crossed over the dirt course to the inner turf oval at