Victoria Park (1957–1985) was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. He was the first Canadian-bred horse to place in an American Triple Crown race.

Victoria Park
SireChop Chop
GrandsireFlares
DamVictoriana
DamsireWindfields
SexStallion
Foaled1957
CountryCanada
ColourBay
BreederEdward P. Taylor
OwnerWindfields Farm
TrainerHoratio Luro
Record19: 10-4-2
Earnings$250,076
Major wins
Clarendon Stakes (1959)
Cup and Saucer Stakes (1959)
Coronation Futurity Stakes (1959)
Remsen Stakes (1959)
Leonard Richards Stakes (1960)
Canadian Triple Crown wins:
Queen's Plate (1960)
American Classic Race placing:
Preakness Stakes 2nd (1960)
Awards
Canadian Champion 2-Yr-Old Colt (1959)
Canadian Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1960)
Canadian Horse of the Year (1960)
Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland (1977)
Honours
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (1976)
Victoria Park Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack
Last updated on March 20, 2020

Background

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Victoria Park was a bay horse bred and raced by E. P. Taylor.[1]

Racing career

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At age two, the colt won the Clarendon Stakes plus the two richest 2-year-old races in Canada, the Coronation Futurity Stakes and Cup and Saucer Stakes, and was voted Canadian Champion 2-Yr-Old Colt.

in the 1960 Kentucky Derby, Victoria Park was ridden by Manuel Ycaza and finished third behind winner Venetian Way.[2] In the 1960 Preakness Stakes, ridden by Anthony DeSpirito, he ran second to Bally Ache, whom he had previously beaten in the Leonard Richards Stakes while setting a new Delaware Park track record.[3] Victoria Park still holds the Delaware Park track record he set on June 18, 1960, of 1:47+45 for one and an eighth miles (1.8 km) on dirt.[4]

Owner E. P. Taylor chose to bypass the Belmont Stakes to return for Canada's most important race, the Queen's Plate. Victoria Park won that race in a record time that stood for more than 40 years.[5] He was voted 1960's Canadian Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse and Canadian Horse of the Year.

Stud record

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Retired to stud, Victoria Park sired 25 stakes winners, including three Queen's Plate winners: Almoner (1970), Kennedy Road (1971), and Victoria Song (1972). He is the damsire of The Minstrel as well as the damsire of Northern Taste, who led the Japanese leading sires list for ten years, and topped the broodmare sires list a number of times.

On its formation in 1976, Victoria Park was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.[6]

Pedigree

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Pedigree of Victoria Park, bay colt, 1957
Sire
Chop Chop
Flares Gallant Fox Sir Gallahad
Marguerite
Flambino Wrack
Flambette
Sceptical Buchan Sunstar
Hamoaze
Clodagh Tredennis
Clare
Dam
Victoriana
Windfields Bunty Lawless Ladder
Mintwina
Nandi Stimulus
Golden Feast
Iribelle Osiris Papyrus
Most Beautiful
Belmona King James
Belmon (family: 1-h)

References

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  1. ^ "Victoria Park". Equibase Co. LLC. 2020-01-08. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  2. ^ "1960". Kentuckyderby.com. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
  3. ^ Sowers, Richard (2004-02-25). The Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes: A Comprehensive History. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 185. ISBN 9780786476985.
  4. ^ "Track Records - Main Track". Delaware Racing Association. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  5. ^ "2017 Media Guide - Thoroughbred Stakes Results" (PDF). Woodbine Entertainment Group. 2018-01-01. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  6. ^ "Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame". Woodbine Entertainment. 1976-01-01. Retrieved 2019-10-02.