The Canadian Derby is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...

 run annually at Northlands Park

Northlands Park

Northlands Park is the "Alberta A circuit" horse racing track at Northlands in Edmonton, Alberta. The horse racing season generally consists of a spring harness meet from February/March, a Thoroughbred meet from May/June to September/October and a fall harness meet to mid-December. Northlands Park...

 in Edmonton, Alberta. A Grade III

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

 event held near the end of August, it is open to thee-year-old horses and is raced on dirt over a distance of one and three-eights miles (11 furlong

Furlong

A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to 220 yards, 660 feet, 40 rods, or 10 chains. The exact value of the furlong varies slightly among English-speaking countries....

s). It was contested at 1 mile from 1930 to 1933, and at 1¼ miles from 1934 through 1956.

The race was the creation of future Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame

Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame

The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 at the Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario to honor those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and thoroughbred horse racing in Canada....

 inductee R. James Speers

Robert James Speers

Robert James "Jim" Speers was a Canadian businessman and Canadian Sports Hall of Fame inductee who made a major contribution to the growth of Thoroughbred horse racing in Western Canada....

 and first run in 1930 at his Polo Park Racetrack

Polo Park Racetrack

The Polo Park Racetrack was a Canadian horse racing facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Considered one of the finest racetracks in Western Canada, it was built by Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee R. James Speers. The six furlong track opened in 1925 under the charter of the Winnipeg Jockey...

 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Inaugurated as the Manitoba Stakes, it was restricted to Manitoba-bred horses until 1936 when the race was renamed the Manitoba Derby and made open to three-year-old horses bred in Canada. In 1941, the name was changed again to its present form as the Canadian Derby. In 1942, future Canadian and U.S. Racing Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

 jockey Johnny Longden

Johnny Longden

John Eric Longden was an American Hall of Fame jockey. He was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England but his father wanted to build a better life for his family so in 1909 emigrated to Canada, settling in Taber, Alberta. By 1912 Longden Sr. had saved enough money to send for his wife and young son...

 won this race.

As the Canadian Derby grew in prestige and its purse money increased, top horses from Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 and Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 began coming west to compete in the race. In 1937 the winner of the King's Plate

Queen's Plate

The Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...

, Canada's most prestigious race, made the 1,300 mile journey from Toronto by rail transport

Rail transport

Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...

 and won the Derby. Budpath

Budpath

Budpath was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning Canada's most prestigious race, the King's Plate. Owned and bred by distilling magnate and prominent Thoroughbred owner Harry C. Hatch, he was out of the mare Luress...

, another King's Plate winner, won the 1941 edition of the Canadian Derby. However, not all eastern based horses fared so well. In 1942, Ten To Ace was shipped in from Toronto by leading owner/trainer Harry Giddings, Jr.

Harry Giddings, Jr.

Harry Giddings, Jr. was a Canadian owner, breeder, and trainer of thoroughbred racehorses. He was born in Trafalgar Township in Halton County, Ontario now at the outskirts of the city of Oakville...

 The colt had won the King's Plate as well as the Prince of Wales Stakes

Prince of Wales Stakes

The Prince of Wales Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Fort Erie Race Track in Fort Erie, Ontario. Restricted to three-year-old horses bred in Canada, it is contested on dirt over a distance of a mile and three sixteenths . In 1959, the Prince of Wales Stakes became the...

 and according to TIME

Time (magazine)

Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

magazine was being called "the greatest Canadian horse of all time." Not only was Ten To Ace defeated in the Canadian Derby, he finished dead last. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,884575,00.html

In 1956, Polo Park Racetrack was closed and the race was moved to its present location in Edmonton, Alberta.

Records

Most wins by a jockey

Jockey

A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

:

• 4 - John Craigmyle (1933, 1939, 1942, 1951)

Most wins by an owner:

• Harry C. Hatch
  Harry C. Hatch
  Harold Clifford "Harry" Hatch was a self-made millionaire industrialist from Prince Edward County, Ontario specializing in the business of wine and spirits....
  
   (1936, 1937, 1941)

Winners of the Canadian Derby since 1996

Year	Winner	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
2010	No Hesitation	Rico Walcott	Jim Meyaard	Barb Side	2:23.40
2009	Tommy Danzigger	Pedro V. Alvarado	Robert Gilker	Edgar B. Smith	2:23.00
2008	Matt's Broken Vow	Emile Ramsammy Emile Ramsammy Emile Ramsammy is a Canadian thoroughbred horse racing Champion jockey. He had more than 500 victories racing in the Caribbean before emigrating to Canada in the early 1990s....	Josie Carroll Josie Carroll Josie Carroll is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse trainer and the first woman trainer to win the Queen's Plate, the oldest thoroughbred horse race in Canada and Canada's most prestigious race....	Robert W. Mitchell	2:19.40
2007	Footprint	Real Simard	Joan Petrowski	Derek G. Milen et al.	2.19.60
2006	Shillelagh Slew	Dino Luciani	Michael DePaulo	David James	2:19.00
2005	Alabama Rain	Pedro Alvarado	Lance Geisbrecht	Peter Redekop	2:20.80
2004	Organ Grinder	Jim McAleney James S. McAleney James S. "Jim" McAleney is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing jockey.A native of Fort St. John, British Columbia, Jim McAleney began his career as a jockey in Western Canada where in 1986 at Northlands Park in Edmonton, Alberta he got his first win. The following year, he competed in the West as...	Sid C. Attard Sid C. Attard Sid C. Attard is a Canadian horse trainer in Thoroughbred horse racing. Members of his family emigrated to Canada in the 1960s where older brothers Joseph and Tino Attard became racehorse trainers and Larry became one of the top jockeys in the country and a member of the Canadian Horse Racing...	S & B Stable	2:22.60
2003	Raylene	Rickey Walcott Rickey A. Walcott Rickey A. Walcott is a jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing who competes in his homeland and in Canada.Walcott won the 2003 Canadian Derby at Northlands Park in Edmonton, Alberta and was the top rider there for the 2007 summer meet and the season overall...	Rodney Hayes	Calmar Stables & Ranch	2:21.60
2002	Lady Shari	Constant Montpellier	David Cotey David Cotey David Cotey is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Near the beginning of the 1990s, he formed the nom de course Dominion Bloodstock to purchase and race Thoroughbreds with partners Hugh Galbraith and Derek Ball...	Dominion Bloodstock et al.	2:19.40
2001	Fancy As	Richard Hamel	Red Smith	Red Ron Farms/Linda Smith	2:18.00
2000	Scotman	Chris McGregor	Pam McDougall	Lomar Stable/Scott Wilson	2:19.20
1999	Native Brass	Alex Ferris	Bruce Phelan	Robert & Roberta Giffin	2:19.00
1998	A Fleets Dancer	Real Simard	Rod Cone	Cam Allard	2:19.40
1997	Smoky Cinder	T. G. Adkins	Jenine Sahadi	Ed & Jim Pawluk	2:20.20
1996	Jan Alta	M. J. McMullen	Darrell Hartley	Darrell Hartley & I. Khan	2:18.00