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REFLECTIONS I By Nelson Dunstan Kings Plate Renewal at Woodbine Today Woodbine Track Was Constructed in 1876 Seagram Horses Established Unique Record Plate Day Presents Colorful Spectacle SpectacleTORONTO TORONTO Ont May 22 22Racing Racing is no longer the Sport of Kings but up here in Ontario the Kings Plate bears the stamp of royal approval It is a unique event for even though it is local in the respect that it is for threeyearolds bred and owned in Canada it is the biggest race in all Canada Moreover it is the second old ¬ est race contested on the American con ¬ tinent The oldest is the Kings Plate Montreal which is also for horses foaled in Canada and which had its inaugural run ¬ ning in 1836 The Kings Plate which will be run here on Monday is now the more important of the two events and also the richest with its purse of 10000 and 50 guineas Back in 1835 Lord Ayer who was for a time Governor General was about to return to England permanently Before departing he was asked to convey to the foot of the throne an appeal to His Majesty William IV for his aid in the promotion of turf and breeding interests by endowing an annual Kings Plate In response to this plea the King under date of April 17 1836 offered a gift of 50 guineas for the purpose represented The firsthand as it proved only contest for for this plate occurred on July 28 at the Three Rivers course and was competed for by horses bred in the Province of Lower Canada This event was designated at the time as completely establishing the manly and interesting sport of racing in these hyperborean backwoods backwoodsWilliam William TV died in 1837 hence the Kings Plate of 1836 was the only event he ever endowed for Lower Canada Butthe following year his successor the girlish Queen Victoria whose life and reign were to provev the golden age of the British turf and whose personal synv pathy and connection with it was conspicuous was pleased to take upon herself the Kings donation Her Majestys plate was inaugurated in 1838 In 1858 the Toronto Turf Club was founded and through Sir Edmund Head then Governor General a new appeal was made to the Queen asking that she endow a plate to be run for at Toronto or such other place in Upper Canada as her Ma ¬ jesty might appoint This she did with an endowment of 50 guineas the same sum given the race for horses bred in Lower Canada or in Quebec So Mondays race at Woodbine first run in 1860 is indirectly if not techni ¬ cally the prolongation of the event which was estab ¬ lished in 1836 Since that time the Kings Plate has ex ¬ erted a powerful influence upon thoroughbred horses in the Dominion DominionRacing Racing at Toronto dates back more than a century if we take into account its first crude beginnings There were several early courses in and adjacent to the city and in 1876 Woodbine Park came into existence It is therefore one of the oldest race tracks now on the American continent Five years after the construction of the course T C Patteson founded the On ¬ tario Jockey Club and today Canadian horsemen date the birth of the modern turf in Canada with the formation of that organization There were many wellknown Canadian turfmen in the following years and one of them was William Hendrie who was probably the first Canadian owner to attain success on the major courses in the United States In 1898 he brought his colt Martimas who had previously won over the Canadian tracks to Sheepshead Bay to win the Futurity When Hendrie passed away Joseph E Seagram became the outstanding sports ¬ man of the Canadian turf At the beginning of the 90s his colors were carried by the winners of important events and for many seasons he was to dominate Dominion racing to even a greater degree than the Calumet Farm horses do now on the American turf turfSeagram Seagram established a stud farm at Waterloo and in the Queens Plate the products of his farm established a record unprecedented and still unequaled in the annals of North American fixed events In 1891 he won the Queens Plate with Victorious and for the next seven suc ¬ cessive seasons he won with ODonoghue Martello Joe Miller Bonniefield Millbrook Ferdinand and in 1898 Bon Ino In 1899 Colonel Hendrie who with his brother George Hendrie carried on the traditions of their father won the Queens Plate with Butter Scotch who defeated Joseph Seagrams horse Dalmoor In 1900 Dalmoor triumphed and in 1901 John Ruskin scored the tenth Seagram victory in 11 years This was the last season in which the event was known as the Queens Plate for in 1902 it became the Kings Plate The supremacy of Seagrams colors over a period of almost 30 years during his own lifetime and then continued by members of the family under the name of Seagram Stable was due to a combination of factors especially sportsmanship For years he maintained one of the most powerful and larg ¬ est stables on the North American continent As late as 1927 the Seagram stable raced one of the best fillies ever bred in Canada in Young Kitty who won the Kings Plate of 1928 1928Prior Prior to 1938 the Kings Plate was for threeyearolds and upward horses When Bunty Lawless won in 1938 the race was for three and fouryearolds but since 1939 when Archworth was the winner it has been for threeyearolds at one and one eighth miles Of recent years we have attended several re ¬ newals of this Canadian classic and always enjoy the atmos ¬ phere of Woodbine Park One of the days features is the appearance of the Highlanders playing their bagpipes As at our own Kentucky Derby the throng is somewhat carefree but at the same time there is a tenseness just before and during the running of the Plate This writer is not familiar with the records of the horses who will go to the post in the Plate on Monday but we will be there to enjoy what we consider one of the most sporting and colorful events contested on the American continent After the running of the Plate the mem ¬ bers of the Ontario Jockey Club and their friends will go to the clubhouse to toast the King Governor General and the owner trainer and jockey of the winning horse
