Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG), known as the Ontario Jockey Club from 1881 to 2001, is the operator of two

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

tracks, a casino and off-track betting stations in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. It also owns and operates the Canadian digital television service HPItv and operates Canada's only online wagering platform for horse racing, HorsePlayer Interactive. WEG is responsible for operating

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 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 ...

, and it also runs Woodbine Mohawk Park in Campbellville, Ontario. It employs over 2,300 people in its operations. WEG also ran the Turf Lounge on

Bay Street Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial services industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Stree ...

in Toronto from 2003 to 2015.

History

The Ontario Jockey Club (OJC) was founded in 1881 to improve the quality of horse racing in the city of Toronto. William Hendrie, president of the Ontario Jockey Club and of the Hendrie Co., Limited, was a railway promoter and capitalist who was the founder of one of the most prominent families in the history of

Thoroughbred racing 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 i ...

in Canada. With the creation of the

Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame 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. The H ...

in 1976, Hendrie was elected to the Builders category. During the 19th century, the city of Toronto had several racetracks. The OJC operated from the original Woodbine track on Queen Street East, which later became known as Greenwood. In 1953,

E. P. Taylor Edward Plunket Taylor, CMG (January 29, 1901 – May 14, 1989) was a Canadian business tycoon, investor and philanthropist. He was a famous breeder of Thoroughbred race horses, and a major force behind the evolution of the Canadian horse-racing ...

became president of the Ontario Jockey Club. During his term, Taylor bought out competing tracks, making the OJC the largest operation in the province, starting with the

Thorncliffe Park Raceway Thorncliffe Park Raceway was a Toronto-area racetrack that operated from 1917 until 1952. It was located east of Millwood Road, south of Eglinton Avenue East and the CPR's railroad tracks. It was the first home of the Prince of Wales Stakes. The na ...

. In 1955, the OJC bought out the

Dufferin Park Racetrack Dufferin Park Racetrack was a racetrack for thoroughbred horse races located on Dufferin Street in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was demolished in 1955 and its stakes races moved to Woodbine Racetrack as part of a consolidation of race ...

and the

Long Branch Racetrack Long Branch Racetrack was a horse-racing facility in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada. It was situated in Etobicoke, then a township, just north of the village of Long Branch and just west of the city of Toronto. It operated from 1924 until 1955 at a loc ...

from the Orpen family. These tracks were closed and their important stakes races were moved to the new Woodbine track, which opened in 1956. Hamilton and Stamford tracks were also bought and closed. In 1962, the club bought out the

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 a mile as the crow flies) to the U.S. bo ...

, and OJC tracks thus held all three races of the Canadian Triple Crown. In 1963, the OJC opened the

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans *Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people *Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...

harness racing track in Campbellville, Ontario. As other gambling was gradually legalized in Ontario, horse racing declined. In 1996, the Greenwood facility was closed and developed as a housing subdivision. The Government of Ontario, introducing more sport lotteries, starting installing gambling machines in race tracks and installed a gaming room at Woodbine, known as Casino Woodbine. In 2001, the Ontario Jockey Club changed its name to Woodbine Entertainment Group to reflect its expanded focus. In 2007, Woodbine's harness racing operations were moved to Mohawk. In 2012, the Fort Erie Racetrack was threatened with closure when it was unable to add slot machines. WEG operated the track for one more season, then sold the track in 2014. The casino at Woodbine, operated by Ontario Lotteries, was transferred to Great Canadian Gaming Corporation in 2018.

Notable people

* Jim Coleman, Canadian sports journalist and press secretary of the Ontario Jockey Club from 1952 to 1962

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://woodbine.com/corporate/company/ Horse racing organizations in Canada 1881 establishments in Ontario Sport in Toronto Horse racing venue owners Television broadcasting companies of Canada Woodbine Racetrack Canadian companies established in 1881