History
The current Woodbine carries the name originally used by a racetrack which operated in east Toronto, at Queen Street East and Kingston Road, from 1874 through 1993. (While the Old Woodbine Race Course was at the south end of Woodbine Avenue, the current Woodbine is nowhere near it.) On June 12, 1956 the name was transferred to the new racetrack which would be known as New Woodbine Racetrack until 1963 when the "New" was dropped from the name. The old track was converted to a combined thoroughbred and standardbred track known thereafter as Old Woodbine or, for most of the rest of its history, as Greenwood Raceway (during standardbred meets) and Greenwood Race Track (during thoroughbred meets). The two thoroughbred and two standardbred meets conducted at Greenwood were transferred to the new Woodbine in 1994, which was until then exclusively devoted to thoroughbred racing. On July 4, 2010 Queen Elizabeth II visited the Racetrack as part of her state visit to Canada, viewing the 151st running of The Queen’s Plate Stakes, as well as taking part in the presentation of trophies and holding a book signing.
The track was the opening venue for the 1976 Summer Paralympics.
The Breeders' Cup was held at Woodbine in 1996. The Arlington Million was held at Woodbine in 1988.
The Woodbine facility is also home to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
The future status of Woodbine Racetrack is in doubt. Nick Eaves, President and CEO of Woodbine Entertainment Group, announced during the 2012 Queen's Plate post position draw that Woodbine may be forced to close in April of 2013 due to the cancellation of slot revenue-sharing by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.
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