216 CANADIAN TUEF ' RECOLLECTIONS 



THE HAMILTON JOCKEY CLUB. 



The boom in turf matters in Canada has been nowhere 

 made more apparent than in the city of Hamilton. Rac- 

 ing in that city was under a cloud for many years, but the 

 establishment of the Hamilton Jockey Club secured a 

 resurrection of the sport and its restoration to public 

 favor. The present Club, under the Presidency of Sena- 

 tor the Hon. Wm. Gibson, one of our representative rail- 

 way contractors, and a strong Board of Directors, has 

 made a splendid record. Their two meetings a year are 

 attended by large crowds, an average of eight hundred a 

 day going by special train from Toronto. Their stakes 

 and purses are liberal and the number of horses that race 

 there is only limited by the stable accommodation pro- 

 curable. The property is about seventy-five acres in ex- 

 tent. There are 490 stalls on the grounds and over one 

 hundred additional in close proximity to the track. The 

 latter is one mile and a sixteenth in circumference and 

 past performances over its surface have proved it to be 

 one of the fastest in Canada. There is also a turf course 

 of one mile, being the only one in America, with the ex- 

 ception of Sheepshead Bay. The steeplechase course is 

 one of the best to be found anywhere. 



Its President, Senator Gibson, has been engaged in 

 many notable works, such as the enlargement of the 

 Welland Canal, the new Victoria Bridge at Montreal, the 

 masonry of both ends of the St. Clair Tunnel, as well as 

 the masonry in connection with the construction of the 

 most important bridges on the Grand Trunk Railway 

 system. He owns and operates two of the largest lime- 

 stone quarries in Canada. He also holds many positions 

 of honor and trust, amongst them being the Presidency 

 of the Bank of Hamilton, also of the Hamilton Gas Light 

 Co., Director of the Canada Life Assurance Co., and is 



