For 25 years, fans at Woodbine Racetrack have witnessed some of harness racing's best horses and some of Canadian harness racing's greatest memories.
Over that time, the track has hosted 13 North America Cups, 11 Breeders Crowns and countless other events.
March marked the final full month of Standardbred racing at Woodbine, and in the Greater Toronto Area. After the April 9, 2018 program, harness racing will permanently move to Mohawk Racetrack in Milton, Ont. The facility, to be known as Woodbine, Mohawk Park is being upgraded and improved to become the permanent home to Canada's top harness racing meet. Thoroughbred racing will continue at Woodbine.
TROT Magazine asked racing fans and participants for their fondest memories of racing at Woodbine. Trot Insider will count down your list of the top 10 harness races ever held at Woodbine.
NOVEMBER 15, 2008 - On a cold, windy and rainy night, on a track rated off by three seconds, World Champion Somebeachsomewhere, the heavy 1-9 fan favourite, carved out fractions of :27, :54.2 and 1:21 all alone on the front end before pacing to the wire in a dominating 1:50.3 -- winning by an astonishing 11 3/4 lengths!
“He is definitely the horse of a lifetime, probably the horse of ten lifetimes,” trainer Brent MacGrath said that night. “I look at the trainers who’ve trained 50, 60, 70 horses their whole lives and never had a horse like this. Maybe we’ve never seen a horse like him.
“The trip he went here tonight was unbelievable. He’s (had) three weeks off, he’s got to be a little bit short. He’ll probably be a little bit tighter next week at The Meadowlands after this race tonight. He just did it on his own, his earplugs are still in. I stuck to my guns [with Somebeachsomewhere’s racing schedule] because I wanted the horse to look like he looked tonight, late in the year. It’s worked. You can only go to the well with these horses so often and I chose the races I thought were important for the horse and for the group, and it has worked out.”
The son of Mach Three – Wheres The Beach, owned by the Schooner Stables of Bible Hill, N.S., notched his 19th of 20 career wins in what would be his final start on Canadian soil.
Previous Races:
► Woodbine Top Ten: #10
► Woodbine Top Ten: #9
► Woodbine Top Ten: #8
► Woodbine Top Ten: #7
► Woodbine Top Ten: #6
► Woodbine Top Ten: #5
► Woodbine Top Ten: #4
► Woodbine Top Ten: #3