The Woodbine Mile is a

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

stakes race on

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 ...

for

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 ...

racehorses 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 pr ...

three years old and up held annually in mid September 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 tra ...

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 anch ...

, Canada. Currently sponsored by

Ricoh is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational imaging and electronics company (law), company. It was founded by the now-defunct commercial division of the Riken, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) known as the ''Riken ...

, the Woodbine Mile offers a purse of

Can$ The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style ...

1,000,000. Part of the

Breeders' Cup Challenge The Breeders' Cup Challenge is a series of Thoroughbred horse races in which the winner earns an automatic spot in a specified Breeders' Cup race. The challenge races change somewhat each year. The Challenge series began in 2007 with 24 "Win and Y ...

series, the winner of the Woodbine Mile automatically qualifies for the

Breeders' Cup Mile The Breeders' Cup Mile is a Grade 1 Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up, run on a grass course. It has been conducted annually as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships since the event's incepti ...

. 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 Can ...

with a purse of $750,000 and run as the Molson Export Challenge, reflecting the name of the company's flagship

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

. 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, 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 Wise Dan (foaled February 20, 2007) is a champion American Hall of Fame and Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. He is the first horse to win the same three Eclipse Awards in consecutive years, having been named American Horse of the ...

(2013) (at current distance) (this is also the track record) Most wins * 2 –

(2012, 2013) Most wins by an owner: * 3 –

Sam-Son Farm Sam-Son Farm is a Thoroughbred horse racing stable with farms located in Milton, Ontario, Canada and Ocala, Florida. Originating in the 60's by Ernie Samuel, it began as a home for competition hunter/jumper horses. One Sam-Son horse, Canadian ...

(1991, 1999, 2004) Most wins by a jockey: * 5 – John R. Velazquez (2000, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2017) Most wins by a trainer: * 4 – Neil D. Drysdale (1989, 1998, 2003, 2006) * 3 – Robert J. Frankel (2000, 2005, 2009) * 3 – Charles Lopresti (2011, 2012, 2013)

Winners

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

References

{{reflist
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