Canada's Most Important Graded Horse Races

 Previously posted on ScoresandStats.com

The Woodbine Mile

This Grade 1 stakes event is held in mid-September as a qualifying race for the Breeders’ Cup Mile in early November. The Woodbine Mile is a turf race, and it offers a prize purse of $1 million (Canadian). The stakes race is open to thoroughbreds three-years-old and up. The Ricoh Woodbine Mile highlights Saturday’s race card at Woodbine Racetrack. The race on turf is one of the “Win and You’re In” Challenge Series of the US Breeders’ Cup events.

The Northern Dancer Turf Stakes

Another graded event on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course at Woodbine is the Grade 1 Northern Dancer Stakes. Also held in mid-September, the Northern Dancer Stakes is 1 ½ miles on turf and the race is open to thoroughbreds three-years-old and up. This turf race has a prize purse of $300,000. Strut the Stage set the record in 2004 with 2:25.87 in 1 ½ miles. The race was called the Niagara Handicap until 2006, when it was renamed the Northern Dancer.

The Canadian International Stakes

Run in October, the Grade 1 Canadian International Stakes is 1 ½ miles on turf. Open to thoroughbreds three-years-old and up, the race was first run in 1938. The 2023 event has a prize purse of $750,000. The Canadian International Stakes has European appeal as one the most anticipated North American events in the fall.

The Canadian Triple Crown

The Canadian Triple Crown series is the Queen’s Plate, the Prince of Wales Stakes and the Breeders’ Stakes. These three Grade 1 horse races are the most prominent events in Canada. The Canadian Triple Crown is open to three-year-old thoroughbreds, and it was launched in 1959 as the graded series.  

The Queen’s Plate is held at Woodbine Racetrack is in the summer season. The stakes race is a Grade 1 event, and the prize purse is $1 million. The 2023 edition will be the 164^th running of the horse race and it is historically named in honor of the reigning Queen or King of England. The Queen’s (or King’s) Plate is the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.

The Prince of Wales Stakes is the second stakes event in the series of the Canadian Triple Crown and the race as a prize purse of $400,000. The highlighted race of the card is at Fort Erie Racetrack and the event covers 1 3/16 miles on dirt.

The third Grade 1 stakes race of the Canadian Triple Crown is the Breeders’ Stakes. This stakes race at the end of August has a prize purse of $500,000. The Breeders’ Stakes at Woodbine is 1 ½ miles on dirt and the longest race of the Canadian Triple Crown.