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Quebec's Racing History:1767 - 1920

1767: The July 9th edition of La Gazette de Quebec mentions a July 1st horserace on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. A mare named Modesty, owned by a Captain Prescott, prevailed easily for a $40 purse.

1789: Creation of the Quebec Turf Club.

1806: The first trotting race under sulky was presented in Harlem, New York, on June 11. The winner, Yankee, trotted the mile in 2:59.

1808: More than 3,000 people turn out for horseraces on the Plains of Abraham on July 4. The government begins providing funds for improvements to horse breeding

1819: The Quebec Turf Club begins organizing races in Quebec.

1820: Montreal hosts races for “Canadian” horses.

1828: La Coupe Jean-Baptiste becomes the coveted trophy on the Quebec City racing scene.

1836: The King’s Plate, with a 50-guinea purse from King William IV, is presented in Trois-Rivieres. It’s for horses raised in Lower Canada that had never won. Brunette, a mare owned by A.P. Hart, captured the first running. The race would travel around the province in future years. At the time, racing was predominantly an English sport in Quebec. There’s not a word of French in the racing program of the 1866 Queen’s Plate at St. Hyacinthe.

1847: Creation of the Montreal Trotting Club, which oversees trotting and pacing races in Montreal..

1860: It’s believed that parimutuel betting was invented around this time in Paris by a Spaniard, Joseph Oller.

1870: Montreal becomes a center for horse racing.

1871: A crowd of 15,000 turns out for Montreal Trotting Club races at a track in Cote St. Paul.

1872: The name Old Blue Bonnets surfaces for the first time. A thoroughbred called Rainbow, owned by J.J. Hyland, won the Queen’s Plate that year at a racetrack by that name. It apparently was situated on the outer edges of Ville St. Pierre, on land now part of the Town of Montreal West.

1877: The newspaper in St. Hyacinthe reports that a horse called Lady Franklin, belonging to P. Racine of Montreal, had won a 10-mile race in St. Cesaire in a little over 28 minutes.

1880: A horse owned by a clergyman, L’Abbe Lacroix, wins a 42-mile match race against another owned by a Mr. Sarazin, the St. Hyacinthe paper reports. There was a $100 riding on the outcome.

1881: A seven-mile trotting race in St. Guillaume is captured by the gray mare of Sorel hotel owner J.B. Archambault in a time of 21 minutes and 15 seconds.

1885: The St. Hyacinthe paper makes note of the victory of a horse owned by Joseph Rousseau of St. Madeleine over another owned by Joachim Vigneux of St. Hyacinthe over a five-mile distance. The winner was timed in a little over 15 minutes..

1890: Author John Fraser publishes a book in which he outlines the origins of Blue Bonnets. Apparently, the name was first given to a bar opened by a Scottish sergeant called Alexander (Sandy) McRae in 1840 near a field in what is now Ville St. Pierre, where a racetrack was scheduled to open. It subsequently became the designation for the small francophone hamlet adjoining the site as well as the racetrack.

1897: Star Pointer becomes the first North American standardbred to crack the 2:00 barrier for a mile..

1903: Legendary pacer Dan Patch cover two miles in 4:17 in a time trial in Macon, Ga..

1905: John F. Ryan creates a jockey club and finds a site for a racetrack in Montreal. Construction begins the next year.

1907: In June 4, Blue Bonnets opens on the site it would occupy for the next 100 years. Purses totaling $72,275 were paid the first year, roughly $3,000 per card. Bets were made through bookmakers. Sir Montagu Allan served as president from 1907 to 1920.

1910: A 5-mile race is introduced in Quebec City. It’s still held annually as part of a summer festival.

1915: A fire Sept. 1 destroys the Blue Bonnets grandstand. Organized parimutuel betting, with takeout, is introduced. By 1917, the takeout had grown to 10 per cent of all monies wagered.

1916: The grandstand and judges’ stand is rebuilt.

1917: Parimutuel betting is banned by the government.

1918-1919: No racing at Blue Bonnets because of the war, except for the annual King’s Plate.

1920: Commander J.K.L Ross takes the helm of the Montreal Jockey Club. He owns the celebrated Sir Barton, the first U.S. Triple Crown winner in 1919. Racing then is two seven-day thoroughbred meets a year, in June and September, with the cards presented between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Blue Bonnets’ main events are the King’s Plate, the Kindergarten Stakes, the Pepiniere Provinciale, the Hochelage Handicap and the Windsor Hotel Cup. Other local tracks also present racing, including Dorval, Delorimier Downs, Kempton Park, King’s Park, Mont Royal and King Edward.