The Woodbine Mile is a Grade I stakes race on turf for Thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up held annually in mid September at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Canada. Currently sponsored by Ricoh, the Woodbine Mile offers a purse of Can$1,000,000. Part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series, the winner of the Woodbine Mile automatically qualifies for the Breeders' Cup Mile. The inaugural race in 1988 was sponsored by

Molson Breweries The Molson Brewery is a Canadian based brewery company based in Montreal which was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors. Molson Coors maintains some of its C ...

with a purse of $750,000 and run as the Molson Export Challenge, reflecting the name of the company's flagship beer. It was changed to the Molson Export Million when the purse was increased to $1 million. In 1999, under new sponsorship it was renamed and raced as the Atto Mile until 2006. Since inception, the race has been run at three different distances: * 1 mile on turf: 1997–present * miles on dirt: 1991–1996 * miles on dirt: 1988–1990 Originally restricted to three-year-olds on the dirt, with the modification to one mile on turf in 1997 the race was also made open to older horses. As a result of the change from dirt to turf, the race was ungraded in 1997 and 1998.

Historical notes

In 2005, the Brazilian horse,

Leroidesanimaux Leroidesanimaux (September 27, 2000 – May 27, 2016) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in Brazil and was an Eclipse Award winner in the United States. Background His name was four French-language words combined. ''Le roi des animaux'' t ...

, set the record for the largest margin of victory at seven and three-quarter lengths while carrying the highest weight of any winner in the race's history at 124 pounds. In 2009, Ventura became the first female to win this race in 13 years. In the process, she also set the record time of 1:32.04. Wise Dan broke this record in 2013 while becoming the first two-time winner of the race.

Records

Time record: * 1:31.75 – Wise Dan (2013) (at current distance) (this is also the track record) Most wins * 2 – Wise Dan (2012, 2013) Most wins by an owner: * 3 – Sam-Son Farm (1991, 1999, 2004) 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 –

John R. Velazquez John R. Velazquez (born November 24, 1971) is a Puerto Rican jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. He began his career in Puerto Rico and moved to New York in 1990. In 2004 and 2005 he was the United States Champion Jockey by earnings and both y ...

(2000, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2017) Most wins by a trainer: * 4 –

Neil D. Drysdale Neil D. Drysdale (born 11 December 1947, Haslemere, Surrey, England) is an American-based thoroughbred race horse trainer. Based in Playa Del Rey, California, he has won two Triple Crown races – the Belmont Stakes (G1) with A.P. Indy in ...

(1989, 1998, 2003, 2006) * 3 –

Robert J. Frankel Robert Julian Frankel (July 9, 1941 – November 16, 2009) was an American thoroughbred race horse trainer whom ESPN called "one of the most successful and respected trainers in the history of thoroughbred racing."Privman, Jay"Robert Frankel Dies ...

(2000, 2005, 2009) * 3 – Charles Lopresti (2011, 2012, 2013)

Winners

† – Hawksley Hill won the 1999 race but was disqualified to 4th

References

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The 2009 Woodbine Mile at the NTRA

Woodbine Mile History at Woodbine Entertainment
Open mile category horse races Turf races in Canada Grade 1 stakes races in Canada Breeders' Cup Challenge series Woodbine Racetrack Sport in Toronto Recurring sporting events established in 1988 Molson Coors Beverage Company 1988 establishments in Ontario

Historical notes

Records

Winners

See also

References