Woodbine, in one paragraph
Woodbine Racetrack and Casino (555 Rexdale Boulevard, at Highway 27 in Rexdale — ten minutes from Pearson's terminals, twenty-five from the Kingsway, forty from downtown) is the thoroughbreds' track from April to December (the Tapeta and turf courses, the Wednesday-to-Sunday cards, the evening cards in summer), the home of the King's Plate (Canada's oldest race, the third Sunday of August — the hats, the infield party, the clubhouse's dining rooms, the year's crowd), the Woodbine Mile and the fall's stakes, and Casino Woodbine's 24-hour gaming floor, restaurants and event space in the grandstand's west end. A limo drops at the grandstand's main entrance (the racing), the casino's entrance (the gaming), or the valet (both), waits in the lots, and collects at the same door; the group's day at the races is a Sprinter or a stretch with a clubhouse table, the airport-strip visitor's evening a ten-minute run from the Dixon Road hotels, and Mohawk Park in Milton the standardbreds' track an hour west. The Etobicoke guide covers the district.
Woodbine is the one destination in the city that is both a race day and a casino night, and it sits where the black car trade is thickest — at the airport's north-eastern corner, ten minutes from the terminals, beside the airport strip's hotels and the cargo area's business. Its calendar has a year's shape: the thoroughbred season from the spring's opening to December's closing, the King's Plate's August Sunday as the peak, the fall's Mile and its stakes, the casino's every night, and the standardbreds at Mohawk in Milton for the harness fans. A chauffeur who works Woodbine knows the grandstand's, the casino's and the valet's doors, the Plate day's lots and its clubhouse's rhythm, the group's Sprinter to a table, the strip visitor's evening run, and the Rexdale and Etobicoke approaches. This guide covers the track and its season, the entrances, the King's Plate, the Mile and the stakes, the casino, the group's day, the airport-strip visitor, the owners and the backstretch, Mohawk Park, the approaches, and a worked Plate Sunday.
The track and its season
Woodbine's thoroughbred meet runs from mid-April to mid-December — racing Wednesday to Sunday (Thursday to Sunday in some months), afternoon cards from 1 p.m. and evening cards on summer Fridays and Saturdays — on the synthetic Tapeta main track and the E.P. Taylor turf course, with the grandstand's stands, the clubhouse's dining rooms and the infield's summer parties; the track's site has the season's calendar and the day's post times, and a race day's drop is at 12:30 for a 1 p.m. first post and the pickup after the last race at about 5:30, or after the clubhouse's dinner. The Toronto visitor guide adds a race day to a summer visit.
The entrances
The grandstand's main entrance on the building's south face (the racing's door — the stands, the wagering, the clubhouse's elevators) has a drop-off loop and the general lot beyond; the casino's entrance at the grandstand's west end (the gaming floor, the restaurants, the event space) has its own loop and lot; the valet at the casino's entrance serves both (a car may drop and collect at the valet's lane without the valet's fee); and the clubhouse's dining rooms and the Champions and Favourites rooms are reached from the grandstand's main entrance's elevators. A chauffeur drops at the door the passenger's day needs, waits in the lot (large, free, a two-minute walk) or the valet's lane, and collects at the same door on a text.
The King's Plate
The King's Plate — run since 1860, the first jewel of Canada's Triple Crown, the third Sunday of August (a Saturday in some years) — is Woodbine's day: 30,000 in the grandstand, the infield and the clubhouse, the hats and the fascinators, the clubhouse's dining rooms and the trackside tables booked months ahead, the Plate's post time in the late afternoon and the day's card from noon; the lots fill by 1, the Rexdale Boulevard approach queues from Highway 27 and Islington, and a chauffeur drops at the grandstand's loop by 11:30 or waits in the queue. A group's Plate day is a stretch limousine or a Sprinter on the hourly to a clubhouse table, the event limo page's pattern with a racetrack; the pickup after the Plate's last race is at the grandstand's loop from 6, or at the casino's valet for a passenger who stays for dinner. The long weekends article notes the Plate's proximity to the Civic Holiday and the Caribbean Carnival's weekend.
The Woodbine Mile and the fall stakes
The Woodbine Mile (September, the turf's Grade 1), the Canadian International and the E.P. Taylor Stakes (October), the Prince of Wales and the Breeders' Stakes (the Triple Crown's second and third jewels — the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie in July, the Breeders' at Woodbine in August) and the fall's stakes Saturdays bring the international owners, the racing press and the serious bettors; a stakes day's transport is the Plate's at a smaller scale, and the owners' and trainers' arrivals at Pearson are the meet and greet ten minutes from the track.
The casino
Casino Woodbine — the gaming floor (slots, tables, the poker room), the restaurants and the bars, the event and concert space — runs 24 hours, and its evenings are the track's second life: a couple's dinner and an hour at the tables, a group's Saturday night, the airport-strip visitor's layover evening, the conference delegate's night out from the Congress Centre or the International Centre (the trade shows article); the drop is the casino's loop or the valet, the pickup the same at any hour on the Nuit Blanche and late-night article's overnight roster, and the passenger safety article's safe ride is the 2 a.m. answer. Ontario's casinos are 19-plus and the in-car amenities article notes that the car's champagne stays in the car.
The group's day at the races
A birthday's eight, a stag's twelve, a company's client afternoon — a stretch limousine or a Sprinter on the hourly from downtown or the 905 to the grandstand's loop at 12:30, a clubhouse table or a trackside box booked with the track, the day's card, the casino after, and the return at 7 or 11; the stag and bachelorette article, the birthday limo article and the visiting clients itinerary article cover the group's and the client's versions, and the corporate account billing article codes a company's afternoon.
The airport-strip visitor
The airport strip's hotels are ten minutes from Woodbine — Dixon Road east to Highway 27 north, or Carlingview and Rexdale Boulevard — and a strip guest's evening at the casino or a layover afternoon at the races is the strip's most common local booking after the terminals' shuttles: a drop at the casino's valet at 8, a pickup at 11 or 1, and the hotel's door; the Pearson page covers the terminals the strip serves and a visitor with a six-hour layover and a race day's card is at the grandstand forty minutes after landing.
The owners, the trainers and the backstretch
Woodbine's backstretch — the barns, the training track, the horsemen's offices — is on the track's north side with its own gate on Rexdale Boulevard and the track's security's credentials, and an owner's morning at the barns (the 6 a.m. workouts, the trainer's briefing) is a red-eye article's 5:30 pickup from a downtown hotel and a credentialed entry at the backstretch gate; the owners' and the trainers' accounts are the corporate car service page's, and the privacy and discretion article's standard applies to an owner whose horse's condition is nobody's business before post time.
Mohawk Park in Milton
Woodbine Mohawk Park (the standardbreds' track at Campbellville, off the 401 at Guelph Line — an hour west of downtown, forty minutes from Woodbine) races harness horses year-round with evening cards, the North America Cup in June and the Breeders Crown in the fall, and its own casino; a harness fan's evening is the 401 west with the Milton page's routes and the 407 article's toll road from the north, and the track's lot and loop are the drop.
The approaches
From Pearson and the strip: Dixon east or Carlingview north to Rexdale Boulevard, ten minutes. From the Kingsway and Etobicoke: Islington or Highway 27 north to Rexdale, twenty-five — the Etobicoke guide. From downtown: the Gardiner west to the 427 north to Rexdale Boulevard's exit, forty; or the 401 west to Highway 27 south. From the 905's north: the 407 to Highway 27 or the 427. From Mississauga and Brampton: the 427 or Highway 27 (the Mississauga and Brampton pages). On the Plate's Sunday, Rexdale Boulevard queues from Highway 27 and Islington by noon, and a chauffeur enters from the east (Islington) when the west queues.
A worked Plate Sunday
Eight friends from Leslieville and the Beaches, the King's Plate. 10:45 a.m.: a stretch SUV from Leslieville, collecting the Beaches at 11, the Gardiner and the 427 to Rexdale Boulevard — entering from Islington, the grandstand's loop at 11:50, the hats intact. 12:00–6:15: the clubhouse table, the card, the Plate at 5:20; the stretch in the lot. 6:15: the pickup at the loop; the casino's valet for two hours at the tables and a dinner. 8:30: the stretch at the valet; Leslieville and the Beaches by 9:30. Ten hours on the hourly, one Plate, eight hats, no parking queue.
Woodbine quick reference
| Need | Where / when |
|---|---|
| Racing (April–December, Wed/Thu–Sun) | Grandstand's main entrance loop; drop 12:30 for a 1 p.m. first post |
| Casino (24 hours) | Casino's entrance loop or the valet |
| Valet | Casino's entrance; drop and collect free |
| King's Plate (3rd Sunday of August) | Drop by 11:30; lots full by 1; enter from Islington when Highway 27 queues; pickup from 6 |
| Woodbine Mile / fall stakes | The Plate's pattern at a smaller scale |
| Group's day | Stretch or Sprinter on the hourly; clubhouse table booked with the track |
| Airport strip | 10 min via Dixon or Carlingview to Rexdale Boulevard |
| Downtown | Gardiner → 427 → Rexdale: 40 min |
| Backstretch (owners, trainers) | Rexdale Boulevard's north gate by credential; 5:30 a.m. pickups |
| Mohawk Park (standardbreds) | Campbellville, 401 at Guelph Line; 1 hour west |
Booking a Woodbine day
The engine takes "Woodbine Racetrack" or "Casino Woodbine" with the door and the hour; the hourly chauffeur page books the day at the races; the stretch limo page the Plate's arrival. Book the Plate's Sunday three weeks ahead.
The Plate's dress code and the clubhouse's rooms
The King's Plate is Toronto's one day of hats — the clubhouse's dress code (jackets for men, no shorts or jeans; the fascinators and the hats by tradition), the trackside tables' and the dining rooms' reservations through the track's hospitality office months ahead, the Plate's own hospitality tents in the infield and on the apron for the sponsors' guests (the Honda Indy article's credentialed-drop pattern at the racetrack's scale) — and a chauffeur who works the Plate keeps the car's back seat clear of anything that could crush a hat and the in-car amenities article's water cold for a August afternoon in the stands.
Woodbine's other events
Beyond the racing and the casino, Woodbine hosts the Toronto Christmas market's western cousin in December, concerts in the casino's event space, the Woodbine Entertainment's summer festivals in the infield and the Pearson-adjacent conference trade that the airport strip guide's hotels bring; the track's calendar has the year's non-racing events and the event limo page covers the fleet a casino concert or an infield festival needs.
Booking notes for Woodbine
"Woodbine, King's Plate, stretch SUV from Leslieville 10:45 a.m. collecting the Beaches 11 and King West 11:20; grandstand loop by 11:50, enter from Islington; clubhouse table booked; pickup at the loop from 6:15; casino valet after; return about 8:30; eight" — the day, the vehicle, the pickups, the door, the table, the sequence and the party; for a casino evening from the strip, "Holiday Inn Dixon Road to Casino Woodbine valet 8 p.m.; pickup same 11:30; two"; the how to book online article shows the fields.
