Thorncliffe Park Raceway was a

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 ...

-area racetrack that operated from 1917 until 1952. It was located east of Millwood Road, south of Eglinton Avenue East and the

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore sponta ...

's railroad tracks. It was the first home of the Prince of Wales Stakes. The name is retained today by the

Thorncliffe Park Thorncliffe Park is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the former Borough of East York. The City of Toronto recognizes Thorncliffe Park's boundaries as the Don River on the south side; Leaside Bridge, Millwood Road, and Laird Drive ...

neighbourhood.

History

The site of Thorncliffe Park Raceway was originally owned by John Taylor and members of the Taylor family, who established mills, a brewery and a brickyard along the

Don River (Ontario) The Don River is a watercourse in southern Ontario that empties into Lake Ontario, at Toronto Harbour. Its mouth was just east of the street grid of the town of York, Upper Canada, the municipality that evolved into Toronto, Ontario. The Don is o ...

. Robert T. Davies, the wealthy founder of the Dominion Brewing Company and related to the Taylor family by marriage, acquired the property in the late 19th century and renamed it Thorncliffe Farm. The name of the farm, and later the racetrack, was inspired by Thorn Cliff, a house built on the west side of the Don River by a member of the third generation of the Taylor family. An avid participant in

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 ...

, under the banner of Thorncliffe Stable, Davies raced both

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

and

standardbred The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace i ...

horses. After his death in 1916, Davies' estate sold the property to a group of investors from

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

who built a horse

racetrack A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also u ...

. The track had a simple but small grandstand structure (and covered area) on the northside of the track, stables to the northeast and more stables and parking at the northwest side. Home to

thoroughbred horse 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 in t ...

, the track also revitalized

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...

in Toronto following its opening on July 21, 1917. Among its thoroughbred races, the track notably hosted the Prince of Wales Stakes, the

My Dear Stakes The My Dear Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually in late June at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. Open to two-year-old fillies, it is contested over a distance of five furlongs on Polytrack and currently carries a purse ...

, and the Clarendon Cup. On June 5, 1937,

W. A. Hewitt William Abraham Hewitt (May 15, 1875September 8, 1966) was a Canadian sports executive and journalist, also widely known as Billy Hewitt. He was secretary of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) from 1903 to 1966, and sports editor of the ''To ...

was one of the

stewards Steward may refer to: Positions or roles * Steward (office), a representative of a monarch * Steward (Methodism), a leader in a congregation and/or district * Steward, a person responsible for supplies of food to a college, club, or other inst ...

which ordered a rerun, after the race was declared a

false start In sports, a false start is a disallowed start, usually due to a movement by a participant before (or in some cases after) being signaled or otherwise permitted by the rules to start. Depending on the sport and the event, a false start can result ...

when one horse was missing from its stall and the flag had not been dropped when other horses jumped the barrier. The decision was protested by spectators who stood to lose bets placed on the race, and an angry mob occupied the track for more than two hours in a near-riotous protest. The track operated until 1952 when it was sold to the

Ontario Jockey Club Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG), known as the Ontario Jockey Club from 1881 to 2001, is the operator of two horse racing tracks, a casino and off-track betting stations in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. It also owns and operates ...

. Thoroughbred racing ended on June 23, 1952, followed by harness racing on August 12, 1953. The property was immediately transferred to a land development company, called Thorncliffe Park Limited. The neighbouring Town of

Leaside Leaside (/'liːˌsaɪd/) is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located northeast of Downtown Toronto, in the vicinity of Eglinton Avenue East and Bayview Avenue. The area takes its name from William Lea and the Lea family, who se ...

annexed the nearly 400-acre former raceway in 1954 and demolished it to make way for the planned community of

. Today, the old racetrack site is commemorated by local streets called Thorncliffe Park Drive, Grandstand Place, and Milepost Place, as well as a number of residential buildings that took on racetrack stable names like Churchill, Maple Glen, and Willow Glen. Thorncliffe's Leaside Park and a wooded area cover the area to the south of the original racetrack.

References

External links

Horserace History in Toronto
{{Horse racing venues in Canada Defunct horse racing venues in Canada Defunct sports venues in Toronto Sports venues completed in 1917 1917 establishments in Ontario 1953 disestablishments in Ontario Sports venues demolished in 1954 Defunct sports venues in Canada Demolished buildings and structures in Ontario Demolished sports venues