E. P. Taylor Stakes

The E. P. Taylor Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares held annually since 1956 in October at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario run on the E. P. Taylor turf course at a distance of 1 ¹⁄₄ miles.

Part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series, the winner of the 2008 E. P. Taylor Stakes automatically qualifies for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf.^[1]

Originally run as the Nettie Handicap, the race was renamed in 1981 to honor the late Edward Plunket Taylor, President of the Ontario Jockey Club from 1953 to 1973 and a founder of the Jockey Club of Canada. An inductee of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, E. P. Taylor owned Windfields Farm, Canada's most successful horse breeding operation.

The $1 million (now reduced to $387,150) E. P. Taylor Stakes is a Grade I event and draws horses from across North America as well as Europe. It is raced as a companion event to the Canadian International Stakes and can be a final stepping stone for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf depending on the time frame between the running of the two races.

Distances

Over the years, the race has been competed at various distances:

• 1956–1961 – 1 ¹⁄₁₆ miles on dirt at Greenwood Raceway
• 1962–1963 – 1 ¹⁄₁₆ miles on dirt at Woodbine Racetrack
• 1964–1967 – 1 ¹⁄₈ miles on dirt at Woodbine Racetrack
• 1968 to date – 1 ¹⁄₄ miles on turf at Woodbine Racetrack

Records

Time record: (at current 1 ¹⁄₄ miles distance on turf)

• 2:00.68 – Mrs. Lindsay (2007)

Most wins:

• 2 – Kitty Girl (1957, 1958)

Most wins by an owner:

• 3 – Gardiner Farm (1968, 1969, 1970)

Most wins by a jockey:

• 3 – Sandy Hawley (1976, 1978, 1982)

Most wins by a trainer:

• 3 – Lou Cavalaris, Jr. (1968, 1969, 1970)

Winners of the E. P. Taylor Stakes

References