The Jockey Club of Canada was formed in 1973 to oversee thoroughbred horse racing in Canada. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the club is responsible for the annual Sovereign Awards program and the Canadian Graded Stakes Committee.
Founding members:
Each year, the Club's Canadian Graded Stakes Committee meets to review open Thoroughbred horse races. To be eligible for graded stakes race status, a race must offer a minimum purse in an amount determined by the Committee. As at 2008, there are thirty-seven Canadian graded stakes races of which all but five are run at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack.
Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in the UK and steeplechasing in the US. Jump racing can be further divided into hurdling and steeplechasing.
Thoroughbred horse racing is a spectator sport in Australia, and gambling on horse races is a very popular pastime with A$14.3 billion wagered in 2009/10 with bookmakers and the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB). The two forms of Thoroughbred horseracing in Australia are flat racing, and races over fences or hurdles in Victoria and South Australia. Thoroughbred racing is the third most attended spectator sport in Australia, behind Australian rules football and rugby league, with almost two million admissions to 360 registered racecourses throughout Australia in 2009/10. Horseracing commenced soon after European settlement, and is now well-appointed with automatic totalizators, starting gates and photo finish cameras on nearly all Australian racecourses.
Greenwood Raceway was a horse racing facility in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Woodbine Racetrack 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 Jockey Club is the breed registry for Thoroughbred horses in the United States and Canada. It is dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred breeding and racing and fulfills that mandate by serving many segments of the industry through its subsidiary companies and by supporting numerous industry initiatives.
Fair Grounds Race Course, often known as New Orleans Fair Grounds, is a thoroughbred racetrack and racino in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is operated by Churchill Downs Louisiana Horseracing Company, LLC.
Laurel Park, formerly Laurel Race Course, is an American thoroughbred racetrack located just outside Laurel, Maryland which opened in 1911. The track is 1+1⁄8 miles in circumference. Its name was changed to "Laurel Race Course" for several decades until returning to the "Laurel Park" designation in 1994.
The De Francis Memorial Dash is a Listed American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland. Open to horses aged three and older, it is competed on dirt over a distance of six furlongs. It is currently run in late November and offers a purse of $250,000.
The George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies run over a distance of 1+1⁄8 miles on the dirt annually at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The event currently offers a purse of $250,000
The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 to honour those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and Thoroughbred horse racing in Canada. It is located at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.
Todd Kabel was a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. A native of McCreary, Manitoba, he began his career as a jockey at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and in 1987 started competing at tracks in Ontario, moving to Toronto permanently in 1991.
Vaguely Noble (1965–1989) was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in the United Kingdom and France. The colt is best known as the winner of the 1968 Group One Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe when he defeated the best horses from England, France, Ireland and Italy. He was later a leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland and a Leading broodmare sire in GB & Ireland. Vaguely Noble is one of the highest-rated horses ever to run in Europe.
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf is an American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old horses, run on a grass course at a distance of one mile. It is part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the de facto year-end championship for North American thoroughbred racing. All Breeders' Cups to date have been conducted in the United States, with the exception of the 1996 event in Canada.
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf is a one-mile turf stakes race for thoroughbred fillies two years old. As its name implies, it is part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the de facto year-end championship for North American thoroughbred racing.
The Autumn Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. Run in mid November, it is open to horses aged three and older. It was raced on dirt until 2006 when the track's owners installed the new synthetic Polytrack surface. For 2008, the Canadian Graded Stakes Committee upgraded the Autumn Stakes to Grade II status.
The Summer Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid-September at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Contested on turf over a distance of 1 mile, it is open to two-year-old horses. It became a Grade II in 1999 but in 2006 was downgraded to a Grade III status. In 2012, it returned to Grade II status. In 2018, the Jockey Club of Canada moved it to Grade I status.
The Hendrie Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Held in mid May, the Grade III sprint race is open to fillies and mares, aged four and older and is contested over a distance of six and a half furlongs on Polytrack synthetic dirt. It offers a purse of $116,205 with an additional $50,000 for Ontario-bred horses provided by the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society (CTHS) through its Thoroughbred Improvement Program (TIP).
The Highlander Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Run in mid to late June, the Grade II race is open to horses aged three and older. Raced over a distance of six furlongs on turf, it currently offers a purse of $250,000.
The Jockey Club Oaks Invitational Stakes is an American Grade III stakes race Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies run over a distance of one and three-eighth miles on the turf held annually in September at Belmont Park, Elmont, New York. The purse for the event is US$700,000.