The Jockey Club of Canada was formed in 1973 to oversee thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 horse racing

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Based in 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...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, the club is responsible for the annual Sovereign Award

Sovereign Award

The Sovereign Award is given annually since 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada to the outstanding horses and people in Canadian Thoroughbred racing.The most prestigious award for horses is Sovereign Horse of the Year....

s program and the Canadian Graded Stakes Committee.

Founding members:

• Colonel Charles "Bud" Baker
• Douglas Banks
• Warren Beasley
• Richard A. N. Bonnycastle
  Richard A. N. Bonnycastle
  Richard Arthur Northwood Bonnycastle is a Canadian businessman who is the former owner and publisher of Harlequin Enterprises and an owner of Thoroughbred racehorses...
  
  
• Charles F. W. Burns
• Arthur B. Christopher
• Harry J. Carmichael
• George C. Frostad
• George R. Gardiner
  George R. Gardiner
  George Ryerson Gardiner, was a Toronto businessman, philanthropist and co-founder of the Gardiner Museum, the only museum in Canada devoted exclusively to ceramic art.-Biography:...
  
  
• W. Preston Gilbride
• Caryl Nicholas Charles Hardinge, 4th Viscount Hardinge
  Viscount Hardinge
  Viscount Hardinge, of Lahore and of Kings Newton in the County of Derby, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1846 for the soldier and Tory politician Sir Henry Hardinge. His son, the second Viscount, represented Downpatrick in Parliament...
  
  
• George C. Hendrie
• Charles John "Jack" Jackson
• Sydney J. "Jim" Langill
• Richard R. Kennedy
  Richard R. Kennedy
  Richard R. Kennedy is a Canadian lawyer and businessman.Kennedy is currently the president of Health Products Canada Inc., having offices in Toronto and Buffalo. He is a venture capitalist, investing in small companies and taking them public. His areas of interest are medical technology and...
  
  
• Jean-Louis Levesque
  Jean-Louis Lévesque
  Jean-Louis Lévesque, was a Canadian entrepreneur, thoroughbred racehorse owner, and philanthropist....
  
  
• Frank M. McMahon
  Frank M. McMahon
  Frank Murray Patrick McMahon was a Canadian businessman best known as the founder and first chairman of Westcoast Transmission Co. Ltd...
  
  
• John Angus "Bud" McDougald
  John A. McDougald
  John Angus "Bud" McDougald was a leading Canadian businessman and owner of Thoroughbred racehorses.Born in Toronto, Ontario, he was universally known by the nickname, "Bud". The son of a wealthy investment banker, after working as a stockbroker for Dominion Securities, in 1945 Bud McDougald...
  
  
• J. E. Frowde Seagram
• Frank H. Sherman
• Conn Smythe
  Conn Smythe
  Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe MC was a Canadian businessman, soldier and sportsman in ice hockey and horse racing. He is best known as the principal owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League from 1927 to 1961 and as the builder of Maple Leaf Gardens...
  
  
• E. P. Taylor
  E. P. Taylor
  Edward Plunket Taylor was a Canadian business tycoon and famous breeder of thoroughbred race horses. Known to his friends as "Eddie", he is universally recorded as "E. P...
  
  
• Donald G. "Bud" Willmot
  Donald G. Willmot
  Donald Gilpin "Bud" Willmot was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and owner of the Kinghaven Farms thoroughbred horse racing stable.Willmot was the President and CEO of Anthes Imperial Co...
  
  

Canadian Graded Stakes Committee

Each year, the Club's Canadian Graded Stakes Committee meets to review open 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...

s. To be eligible for graded stakes race

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...

 status, a race must offer a minimum purse in an amount determined by the Committee. As at 2008, there are thirty-seven Canadian graded stakes races of which all but five are run at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack is a Canadian racetrack for Thoroughbred horse races located at 555 Rexdale Blvd. in the city of Toronto, Ontario. It is the only horseracing track in North America which stages, or is capable of staging, thoroughbred and standardbred horseracing programs on the same day...

.