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The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 to honor those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and thoroughbred horse racing in Canada. It is located at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.
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The Hall of Fame annually inducts Thoroughbred and Standardbred horses, sulky drivers, jockeys, trainers and the horse racing industry's builders.
Background
Although the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (CHRHF) was founded in 1976, it was not until 1997 that it had a physical location. At that time, the Ontario Jockey Club granted a permanent site located at the West Entrance to Woodbine Racetrack. The Hall now includes information on each of the inductees plus related memorabilia including trophies, silks, old racing programs and bronzed horseshoes. Each year, special displays are created to honour some of racing's greats such as jockey Ron Turcotte or pacer Cam Fella.
In 2014, the Hall commemorated the 50th anniversary of Northern Dancer's wins in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Queen's Plate with a series of initiatives such as an online timeline of his career, the induction of his trainer Horatio Luro, a special tribute at the annual ceremony and a calendar. Northern Dancer and his owner E.P. Taylor were part of the original class of inductees in 1976. Since then, Northern Dancer's sire Nearctic, dam Natalma, sire's dam Lady Angela, several sons and daughters including Nijinsky, The Minstrel, Northernette and Vice Regent, plus numerous descendants have also been inducted.
There are two nominating committees, one for the Thoroughbred industry, the other for Standardbreds. Each committee nominates up to eight candidates, which are later voted on by the corresponding election committee. Any Canadian person or horse can be nominated for their achievements whether in Canada or internationally. Foreign-bred horses who had a significant influence on Canadian racing or breeding may also be nominated. For example, Secretariat was nominated in 2013 in recognition of his appearance in the 1973 Canadian International, an appearance that brought world-wide attention to the race.