Canadian Maturity Stakes

Canadian Maturity Stakes

Discontinued stakes race
Norcliffe, painted by Bob Demuyser (1920-2003)
Location	Woodbine Racetrack Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Inaugurated	1953
Race type	Thoroughbred - Flat racing
Website	woodbineentertainment.com
Race information
Distance	1+1⁄4 miles (10 furlongs)
Surface	Turf
Track	Left-handed
Qualification	Canadian bred four-year-olds
Weight	Assigned

The Canadian Maturity Stakes was a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually in late November at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. Inaugurated in 1953,^[1] the race was restricted to four-year-old horses bred in Canada. It was contested on turf over a distance of a mile and a quarter (10 furlongs).

At a time when Thoroughbreds regularly ran on both dirt and turf, the Canadian Maturity Stakes attracted the best four-year-olds in Canada. However, by the late 1980s that situation had changed dramatically and by the time of the 1994 running, it attracted a field of only four horses.^[2]

The Canadian Maturity Stakes was won for five consecutive years between 1990 and 1994 by Sam-Son Farm and Hall of Fame trainer, Jim Day. Sam-Son Farm and Day also won in 1983.^[3]

Speed record: (Through 1998, Woodbine times were recorded in fifths of a second. Since 1999 they are in hundredths of a second)

• 2:00.20 - Classic Reign (1993)^[4]

Most wins by an owner:

• 6 - Sam-Son Farm (1983, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994)

Most wins by a jockey:

• 4 - Robin Platts

Most wins by a trainer:

• 6 - James E. Day (1983, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994)

• June 23, 1957 New York Times article titled "Censor Is Home First In Canadian Maturity"
• July 19, 1993 Toronto Star article titled "Classic Reign zips to victory, breaks Maturity Stakes mark"