The Coronation Futurity Stakes is a

Thoroughbred horse race 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 ...

for 2-year-old horses foaled in Canada. It is run annually in mid-November at

Woodbine Racetrack 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 ...

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada at a distance of miles. Along with its

turf Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricult ...

counterpart, the

Cup and Saucer Stakes The Cup and Saucer Stakes is a thoroughbred horse race held annually in October at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Open to two-year-old horses foaled in Canada, it is currently run at a distance of miles on turf. Along with its dir ...

, the Coronation Futurity is the richest race for two-year-olds foaled in Canada. Inaugurated in 1902 at Toronto's

Old Woodbine Racetrack Greenwood Raceway (originally Woodbine Race Course) was a horse racing facility in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History Woodbine Race Course Inaugurated in 1874 as Woodbine Race Course at the foot of Woodbine Avenue and Lake Ontario, it was owned ...

, it was created in celebration of the August 9, 1902

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...

Edward VII of the United Kingdom Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

. The winner of the race often becomes the early favorite for next year's

Queen's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate between 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of ...

, though the last horse to win both races was

Norcliffe Norcliffe (1973–1984) was a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. He was sired by U.S. Hall of Fame Champion Buckpasser out of the mare Drama School by Northern Dancer. Owned by the Norcliffe Stable of Charles F. Baker, Chairman o ...

in 1975. The 1963 winner was

Northern Dancer Northern Dancer (May 27, 1961 – November 16, 1990) was a Thoroughbred who, in 1964, became the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. He then became one of the most successful sires of the 20th century. He is considered a Canad ...

who would go on to win the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

and

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () on ...

and become the most important

sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" a ...

of the 20th century. Of note, his young jockey that day was future Canadian and U.S. Hall of Fame jockey

Ron Turcotte Ronald Joseph Morel "Ronnie" Turcotte, (born July 22, 1941) is a retired Canadian thoroughbred race horse jockey best known as the rider of Secretariat, winner of the U.S. Triple Crown in 1973. Career Turcotte began his career in Toronto as a ...

who, ten years later, would ride

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who is the ninth winne ...

to victory in the U.S. Triple Crown series.

Sunny's Halo Sunny's Halo (February 11, 1980 – June 3, 2003) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1983 Kentucky Derby. In 1986, Sunny's Halo was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. Background Foaled at Oshawa, Ontario, Sunny's Halo wa ...

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 a variety of distances: * 4 furlongs : 1902–1909 at Old Woodbine Racetrack * furlongs : 1909–1917 at Old Woodbine Racetrack * 5 furlongs : 1920–1926 at Old Woodbine Racetrack * 6 furlongs : 1927–1940 at Old Woodbine Racetrack * 1 mile : 1941–1948 at Old Woodbine Racetrack * 1 mile and 70 yards : 1949-1956 Old Woodbine Racetrack, 1957 at the new Woodbine Racetrack * miles : 1958–1960 at Woodbine Racetrack * miles : 1961 to present at Woodbine Racetrack 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.

Records

Speed record: (at current distance of miles) * 1:49.20 -

(1975) - natural dirt * 1:50.91 - Martimer (2011) - Polytrack Most wins by an owner: * 8 -

Windfields Farm Windfields Farm was a six square kilometre (1,500 acre) Thoroughbred horse breeding farm that was founded by businessman E. P. Taylor in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Origin The first stable and breeding operation of E. P. Taylor originated w ...

and/or E. P. & Winnifred Taylor (1950, 1952, 1956, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1973) Most wins by a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

: * 5 -

Avelino Gomez Avelino Gomez (1928 – June 21, 1980) was a Cuban-born Hall of Fame jockey in American and Canadian thoroughbred horse racing. Born in Havana, Gomez began a career as a jockey at the urging of a family member. He won his first race in Mexic ...

(1964, 1965, 1966. 1967, 1972) * 5 -

Sandy Hawley Desmond Sandford "Sandy" Hawley, (born April 16, 1949 in Oshawa, Ontario) is a Canadian Hall of Fame jockey. Sandy Hawley decided to be a jockey when he was a 17-year-old boy, hotwalking, grooming and excise horses at a Woodbine racetrack in To ...

(1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976) Most wins by a trainer: * 7- Harry Giddings, Jr. (1911, 1912, 1913, 1915, 1920, 1933, 1936) * 5 - James E. Day (1984, 1985, 1987, 1990, 2001)

Winners

References

{{reflist
The 2009 Coronation Futurity at the CTHS

Woodbine History
Restricted stakes races in Canada Flat horse races for two-year-olds Horse races in Canada Woodbine Racetrack Recurring sporting events established in 1902