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Fort Erie Race Track is a
horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, 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 bas ...
facility in
Fort Erie, Ontario Fort Erie is a town in the Regional Municipality of Niagara, Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada. The town is located at the south eastern corner of the region, on the Niagara River, directly across the Canada–United States border from Buffal ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, 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) to the U.S. border. Its most important race is the
Prince of Wales Stakes The Prince of Wales Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Fort Erie Race Track in Fort Erie, Ontario. Restricted to only three-year-old horses bred in Canada, it is contested on dirt over a distance of miles (1.9 km; ...
, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.


History

Fort Erie Race Track was built by the Fort Erie Jockey Club and opened on June 16, 1897. It was at one time owned by the Cella family, who also owned
Oaklawn Park Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort, formerly Oaklawn Park Race Track, is an American thoroughbred racetrack and casino in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is the home to "The Racing Festival of the South", a four-day series of races that concludes with the ...
in
Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County, Arkansas, Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs ...
. They sold it in 1952 to renowned Canadian horseman
E. P. Taylor Edward Plunket Taylor, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, CMG (January 29, 1901 – May 14, 1989), was a Canadians, Canadian business tycoon, investor, and philanthropist. He was a famous breeder of Thoroughbred horse racing, r ...
, acting on behalf of the Ontario Jockey Club. Prior to this acquisition, Fort Erie was regarded as a "ramshackle" facility that was restricted to only 14 days of racing a year. Taylor closed many of the smaller tracks around Ontario and instead focused on developing Thoroughbred racing in Toronto and Fort Erie. Taylor expanded the racing season for Fort Erie to 42 days over the summer. He also hired horticulturist Gene Muma, who transformed the facility into "physically, the most beautiful race course in North America." In 1996, the Ontario government announced that it would open casinos, to be operated by the
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, known for corporate branding purposes simply as OLG since 2006, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario, Canada. OLG conducts and manages gaming on behalf o ...
(OLG), at racetracks across the province. To compensate the tracks for the use of their facilities and potential "cannibalization" of customers, the OLG directed 20% of the revenue from
slot machine A slot machine, fruit machine (British English), poker machine or pokie (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. A slot machine's standard layout features a screen disp ...
s to the racetracks, which responded by increasing purse sizes. However, the subsidy was abruptly removed in June 2012, leading to the announcement that Fort Erie Race Track would close at the end of the year. The track inked a one-year transition funding deal with the province in early 2013, which allowed it to open and run the 2013 season. In November 2013 plans were unveiled by the Fort Erie Live Racing Consortium for the track to host a festival meet around the theme of the Chinese Year of the Horse, with the Prince of Wales Stakes running in July. The plan also called for horse training to begin in late April, followed by a point-based racing tournament running through early August. Racing continued on until early October, with a total of 400 races across the season. A consortium led by American businessmen
Carl Paladino Carl Pasquale Paladino (born August 24, 1946) is an American businessman and political activist. Paladino is the chairman of Ellicott Development Co., a real estate development company he founded in 1973. Paladino ran for Governor of New York ...
, Joel Castle and Joe Mosey purchased the property in August 2014. Paladino stated that he had planned to invest in the track to capitalize on the construction of Canadian Motor Speedway, but that the speedway's status in "
development hell Development hell, also known as development purgatory or development limbo, is media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in a stage of early development for a long time because of legal, technical, or artistic ...
, "which Paladino blamed on the
Liberal Party of Ontario The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; , PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by Bonnie Crombie since December 2023. The party espouses the principles of liberalism, with their rival the Progressive Co ...
's opposition to an exit ramp off the
Queen Elizabeth Way The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a 400-series highways, 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking Toronto with the Niagara Peninsula and Buffalo, New York. The highway begins at the Canada–United States border on the Pea ...
for the speedway, led him to consider selling off the track if the Liberals won the 2018 provincial election. At one point, Paladino listed the property of roughly 300 acres in several parcels with a total value of
Can$ The Canadian dollar (currency symbol, symbol: $; ISO 4217, code: CAD; ) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $. There is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviations Can$, CA$ and C$ are frequently used f ...
17.25 million. However, with the 2018 election of the Conservative party, Paladino announced that he would hold on to the race track, even as the speedway project was officially abandoned in 2020. In 2018, the Ontario government reached a 19 year funding agreement with Ontario Racing. "A few years ago, Fort Erie wondered if they would survive," said John Hayes, chairman of Ontario Racing. "It's time to stop worrying about the past. Instead of worrying about putting food on the table, we need to worry about how we can flourish and thrive."


Racing fixtures

The
Prince of Wales Stakes The Prince of Wales Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Fort Erie Race Track in Fort Erie, Ontario. Restricted to only three-year-old horses bred in Canada, it is contested on dirt over a distance of miles (1.9 km; ...
is Fort Erie's most important annual event. It was first run in 1929 but achieved its current prominence in 1959 when E.P. Taylor made it the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. Among the winners of the Prince of Wales are
New Providence New Providence is the most populous island in The Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. On the eastern side of the island is the national capital, national capital city of Nassau, Bahamas, Nassau; it had a population of 246 ...
,
With Approval With Approval (May 9, 1986 – June 21, 2010) was a Thoroughbred Thoroughbred horse race, racehorse who won the Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, Canadian Triple Crown in 1989 under jockey Don Seymour. Even though he missed ...
,
Dance Smartly Dance Smartly (1988–2007) was a Champion Thoroughbred racemare who went undefeated in 1991 while winning the Canadian Triple Crown and becoming the first horse bred in Canada to win a Breeders' Cup race. She was inducted into both the Canadian ...
, Peteski and Wando. The Puss N Boots Cup is run annually at the start of the fall meeting. It is named after the horse Puss N Boots, who was leading in the
Vandal Stakes The Vandal Stakes was a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually from 1956 through 2016 at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. The race has been on hiatus since the 2016 edition. The sprint race was open to two-year-old horses bred in Ont ...
(then run at Fort Erie) when he decided to jump the inner hedge near the finish line. The horse landed in one of the infield ponds, dumping his jockey in the process. In recognition, the winning jockey of the Cup jumps into the pond in celebration. A number of other stakes races were once run at Fort Erie but have since been transferred to Woodbine. This includes the
Bison City Stakes The Bison City Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Held during first week of July, it is open to Canadian-foaled three-year-old fillies. Since the 1999 creation of the Canadian Trip ...
, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara for fillies.
Northern Dancer Northern Dancer (May 27, 1961 – November 16, 1990) was a Thoroughbred that, in 1964, became the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. After being retired from racing, he became one of the most successful Stallion, sires of the 2 ...
won the Summer Stakes in 1963 when it was still run at Fort Erie. Dachshund racing was added to the track's schedule in 2018; the success of the first race held that year led to the addition of a
basset hound The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of scent hound. The Basset Hound was developed in Great Britain from several now-extinct strains of France, French basset breeds. It was bred primarily for hunting rabbit and hare on foot, moving slowly en ...
race for 2019.


References

{{Horse racing venues in Canada Horse racing venues in Ontario 1897 establishments in Ontario Sports venues completed in 1897