The Northern Dancer Turf Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto , Ontario in mid-September. A Grade I event with a current purse of Can$ 300,000, it is run at a distance of 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles on Woodbine's E. P. Taylor turf course .
17-731: Inaugurated as the Niagara Handicap, it was first raced on dirt at the Fort Erie Racetrack . In 1957 the race was changed to run on turf and was moved to the Woodbine Racetrack in 1985 where for 1986 only, it was run on dirt. The race became part of the Breeders' Cup program and the name was amended to the Niagara Breeders' Cup Handicap. In 2006, the event was renamed to honour Canada's most famous racehorse, Northern Dancer . Over
34-668: A Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Fort Erie Race Track in Fort Erie, Ontario . Restricted to only three-year-old horses bred in Canada, it is contested on dirt over a distance of 1 + 3 ⁄ 16 miles (1.9 km; 9 + 1 ⁄ 2 furlongs). In 1959, the Prince of Wales Stakes became the second race in the Canadian Triple Crown series. It follows the August running of
51-627: A mile) to the U.S. border. Its most important race is the Prince of Wales Stakes , the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown . Fort Erie Race Track was built by the Fort Erie Jockey Club and opened on June 16, 1897. It was at one time owned by the Cella family, who also owned Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas . They sold it in 1952 to renowned Canadian horseman E. P. Taylor , acting on behalf of
68-601: Is run annually at the start of the fall meeting. It is named after the horse Puss N Boots, who was leading in the Vandal Stakes (then run at Fort Erie) when he decided to jump the inner hedge near the finish line. The horse landed in one of the infield ponds, dumping his jockey in the process. In recognition, the winning jockey of the Cup jumps into the pond in celebration. A number of other stakes races were once run at Fort Erie but have since been transferred to Woodbine. This includes
85-681: The 2018 provincial election . At one point, Paladino listed the property of roughly 300 acres in several parcels with a total value of Can$ 17.25 million. However, with the 2018 election of the Conservative party, Paladino announced that he would hold on to the race track, even as the speedway project was officially abandoned in 2020. In 2018, the Ontario government reached a 19 year funding agreement with Ontario Racing. "A few years ago, Fort Erie wondered if they would survive," said John Hayes, chairman of Ontario Racing. "It's time to stop worrying about
102-578: The Bison City Stakes , the second leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara for fillies. Northern Dancer won the Summer Stakes in 1963 when it was still run at Fort Erie. 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 for 2019. Prince of Wales Stakes The Prince of Wales Stakes is
119-514: The King's Plate and precedes the Breeders' Stakes in October. The race was inaugurated in 1929 at the now defunct Thorncliffe Park Raceway in today's Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood of central east Toronto . In 1959, the E.P. Taylor colt New Providence emerged as a Triple Crown champion in its first year of existence. In the ensuing years, six more three-year-olds have equaled the feat. In 2014, it
136-572: The Minshall Farms colt Kiridashi won. To date, no female jockey has won the Prince of Wales Stakes, although Francine Villeneuve and Autumn Snow lost the 2005 running by a nose to Ablo . Uniquely, the 2003 edition featured the first "father vs. daughter" match up in a Canadian Triple Crown race, when jockeys David Clark and Cory Clark competed against one another. He finished third aboard Shoal Water , while she brought her horse, Sonofawac , home in sixth position. From 1959 through 1987
153-535: The Ontario Jockey Club. Prior to this acquisition, Fort Erie was regarded as a "ramshackle" facility that was restricted to only 14 days of racing a year. Taylor closed many of the smaller tracks around Ontario and instead focused on developing Thoroughbred racing in Toronto and Fort Erie. Taylor expanded the racing season for Fort Erie to 42 days over the summer. He also hired horticulturist Gene Muma, who transformed
170-408: The Prince of Wales Stakes was run on turf . Since inception, it has been contested at four different Ontario racetracks and at various distances: Speed record: (at current distance of 1 + 3 ⁄ 16 miles) Most wins by a jockey : Most wins by a trainer : Most wins by an owner: A † designates a Triple Crown winner. TSN owns broadcast rights to the event. It has carried
187-580: The facility into "physically, the most beautiful race course in North America." In 1996, the Ontario government announced that it would open casinos, to be operated by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), at racetracks across the province. To compensate the tracks for the use of their facilities and potential "cannibalization" of customers, the OLG directed 20% of the revenue from slot machines to
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#1733085789219204-479: The past. Instead of worrying about putting food on the table, we need to worry about how we can flourish and thrive." The Prince of Wales Stakes is Fort Erie's most important annual event. It was first run in 1929 but achieved its current prominence in 1959 when E.P. Taylor made it the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown . Among the winners of the Prince of Wales are New Providence , With Approval , Dance Smartly , Peteski and Wando . The Puss N Boots Cup
221-570: The property in August 2014. Paladino stated that he had planned to invest in the track to capitalize on the construction of Canadian Motor Speedway , but that the speedway's status in " development hell , "which Paladino blamed on the Liberal Party of Ontario 's opposition to an exit ramp off the Queen Elizabeth Way for the speedway, led him to consider selling off the track if the Liberals won
238-546: The racetracks, which responded by increasing purse sizes. However, the subsidy was abruptly removed in June 2012, leading to the announcement that Fort Erie Race Track would close at the end of the year. The track inked a one-year transition funding deal with the province in early 2013, which allowed it to open and run the 2013 season. In November 2013 plans were unveiled by the Fort Erie Live Racing Consortium for
255-605: The track to host a festival meet around the theme of the Chinese Year of the Horse, with the Prince of Wales Stakes running in July. The plan also called for horse training to begin in late April, followed by a point-based racing tournament running through early August. Racing continued on until early October, with a total of 400 races across the season. A consortium led by American businessmen Carl Paladino , Joel Castle and Joe Mosey purchased
272-421: The years, the race has been run at various distances: Speed Record: Most wins: Most wins by an owner: Most wins by a jockey : Most wins by a Trainer : Fort Erie Racetrack Fort Erie Race Track is a horse racing facility in Fort Erie, Ontario , Canada , that opened on June 16, 1897. The racetrack is often referred to as " the border oval " because of the track's proximity (barely
289-450: Was decided to grandfather the five horses who had won the series prior to 1959 as well. According to the racetrack's website, for fans, the most popular winner of the race was the Canadian and American Hall of Fame filly Dance Smartly who went on to win the 1991 Triple Crown. In 1995 Barbara J. Minshall became the first woman to train the winner of a Canadian Triple Crown race when
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