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■mm I . ■fiu.iJlB Reflections -j : By Nelson Dunstan This Is Last Year for Woodbine Track y New, Modern Plant Being Constructed Conklin Breeds Top-Sales Yearlings TORONTO, Ont., June 3. — This lovely Canadian city with its background of Lake Ontario is soon to lose Woodbine Park, the historic and homey little track ■mm I . where where the the Queens Queens Plate Plate has has been been where where the the Queens Queens Plate Plate has has been been run since before the turn of the century. For quite a number of years, this writer has been making an annual trip to Toronto and Woodbine. While we dislike to see the old track pass, as it will after the autumn meeting, a more modern and beautiful Woodbine is nearing completion in the Malton area on the western fringe of metropolitan Toronto, now one of the the important important cities cities of of the the world. world. ■fiu.iJlB the the important important cities cities of of the the world. world. Time does march on. Some four years ago E. P. Taylor, one of the business tycoons of Canada, a member of our own Jockey Club and president of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society, organized a group of owners and breeders for the purpose of constructing the new track, which we are told will rank with the finest on the North American continent. But the Queens Plate will be run at Woodbine on June 11, the last renewal there as the event, of course, will be transferred to the new track next year. The Plate has been run at 14 different tracks in Canada but for the past 72 years it Jias been a Woodbine fixture and will continue to be so in the years to come. Meanwhile a series of Trials have been held for the big event one week hence, the final tests being run today. Some Facts About the Queens Plate Races and race tracks in the time of our fathers and their fathers were always rich in unusual episodes and there is much of interest about those connected with them. This is very true of the Queens Plate and the Woodbine, track. Going back to the third running in 1862, it is a matter of record that Palermo was sired by a trotting stallion named Royal George, who stood in. stud in the Toronto area from 1850 to 1860, Since the inaugural running in 1860, the Plate has been won by 48 colts or horses, 28 fillies or mares and 18 geldings. We would have to leave it to Canadians to say who were the 10 best winners. According to the wagering one of the best must have been Horometer, winner in 1934, for he paid only five cents to the dollar. Since pari-mutuels came to this continent no horse can pay less. It is also unusual, if not an oddity, that in 1905, 1906 and 1908 the respective winners, Inferno, Slaughter, and Seismic, were sired by HaVoc and when Mandarin won in 1916, he gave Havoc another, a record number. Havoc was a son of Himyar, the sire of Domino who established one of the fastest male lines known in American breeding, if not that of the world. Many names stand out in. Plate history through the years and three of .the most prominent are Hendrie, Seagram and Hatch. William Hendrie is particularly noted as he was the first Canadian owner to attain truly historic success on the courses of the United States. That was when the colt Martimas, who had only previously raced in Canada, went to New York to win the Futurity at Sheepshead Bay in 1898. William Hendrie bred four winners of the Plate and George Hendrie added two more. After the death of William Hendrie,-Joseph E. Seagram became the greatest supporter of the Canadian turf. At the beginning of the 90s his "black, yellow sash" started to dominate the turf in the land of the maple leaf. He first -won the Plate with Victorious in 1891 and his colors were victorious for eight successive seasons, a record still un-equaled. In all, he had 15 Plate winners. The Seagram stable added four more and that "record has not been apprached. The late Harry C. Hatch is the breeder of five winners. Members of all three families are now active in Canadian racing circles, along with E. P. Taylor, the breeder of five winners and the owner of three Plate winners. Last year, Taylors" Queens Own was the Canadian Horse of the Year, and his Canadi-ana is now Canadas leading money-winner of all time. Better Quality of Canadian Production There has been an upsweep in the quality of Canadian breeding and production in recent years. The Fasig-Tipton Company of New York conducts yearling sales at Woodbine Park and the foremost consignor is Frank Conklin, master of Conklin Farms, Inc., at Brant-ford, Ont., and -one of the most respected breeders on the • North American continent. Conklins farm consists of some 450 acres of rich pasture and is ideal for the quality broodmares he has assembled there. The record of this farm is remarkable, for since 1951 close to 60 per cent of the yearlings sold at Woodbine who later became stake winners were bred there. It would require a column to enumerate the many Midway stake winners but their quality is clearly reflected in the demand and prices obtained for the products of the Conklin farm. This year he will sell nine yearlings, six of them being fillies. One of the offerings is a brown colt by Alibhai out of Be, Happy, by Beau Pere. Conklin now has 20 broodmares and annually sends a draft to Cy Whites Kentucky farm for breeding to top American sires. Although he does not race the horses he raises, his one great ambition is to see one of them become the top Canadian-bred of all time. Y J 1 » I * * k i i ■ . * J VJIt i * V. „ i a. tit fee ? * .1 j. i f t t . * -» v. * r. * r. « 1
