Honouring a Canadian visionary: Breeding Champions – E. P. Taylor and Windfields Farm

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For immediate release

Gatineau, Quebec, April 30, 2014 — Starting on April 30, the Canadian Museum of History will present Breeding Champions – E.P. Taylor and Windfields Farm, a special display featuring trophies, photographs and archival material from the Museum’s E.P. Taylor – Windfields Farm Collection. This unique and historic collection documents the rise of Windfields Farm to international prominence in Thoroughbred racing and breeding and is a testament to the vision and acumen of Windfields Farm owner Edward Plunket (E.P.) Taylor (1901–1989), one of Canada’s most successful and influential businessmen.

Presented in the River Mezzanine (Level 2) until January 18, 2015, Breeding Champions – E.P. Taylor and Windfields Farm includes the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Queen’s Plate trophies won by the most famous of E.P. Taylor’s Thoroughbreds, Northern Dancer. The E.P. Taylor – Windfields Farm Collection was generously donated to the Canadian Museum of History by the Taylor family, heirs of E.P. Taylor. It has been recognized by the Canadian Property Export Review Board as a collection of outstanding significance and national importance.

“We are delighted to be sharing with Museum visitors some of the riches of this remarkable collection,” said Mark O’Neill, President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of History. “Financier, industrialist, brewer and horse breeder, E.P. Taylor consolidated and modernized entire industries. He applied this approach to Canada’s Thoroughbred industry, raising it to international prominence. Breeding Champions – E.P. Taylor and Windfields Farm presents a vivid portrait of a man who relentlessly pursued excellence in everything he did.”

“On behalf of the Taylor Family I would like to say how thrilled we are that the Canadian Museum of History is presenting this special display from the E.P. Taylor – Windfields Farm Collection on this the 50th anniversary of Northern Dancer’s historic Kentucky Derby win” said Jefferson Mappin, E.P. Taylor’s grandson. “We are particularly pleased that our grandfather’s story will be told to young and future generations of Canadians and visitors who will be learning of his great achievements for the first time. E.P. Taylor was a proud Canadian and would be very happy that the Museum is sharing his story in Ottawa, his birthplace.”

E.P. Taylor’s 1,500-acre Windfields Farm — which at its peak had more than six hundred Thoroughbreds — near Oshawa, Ontario, produced some of the greatest racehorses of all time. Windfields Farm became recognized internationally on May 2, 1964 when Northern Dancer won the Kentucky Derby, the first Canadian-bred Thoroughbred to do so. The little horse became a national hero and an inspiring symbol for Canadians. May 2, 2014 marks the 50th anniversary of Northern Dancer’s Kentucky Derby victory. He went on to win the Preakness Stakes, the second race in the American Triple Crown; in the final race, the Belmont Stakes, he finished third. After his short racing career, Northern Dancer sired over 600 foals, 147 of which went on to become stakes race winners. Many consider him to be the greatest Thoroughbred sire of the 20th century.

Other Windfields Farm champions represented in the display include Windfields, Taylor’s first Canadian-bred stakes champion, winning the Breeders’ Stakes in 1946; Nearctic, voted Canada’s Horse of the Year in 1958, and sire of 43 stakes winners, including Northern Dancer; and New Providence, winner of the inaugural Canadian Triple Crown (the Queen’s Plate, Prince of Wales Stakes and Breeders’ Stakes) in 1959.

Breeding Champions – E.P. Taylor and Windfields Farm will be presented at the Canadian Museum of History from April 30, 2014 to January 18, 2015. The display was developed by the Canadian Museum of History.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers is an Official Partner of the Canadian Museum of History.

Located on the shores of the Ottawa River in Gatineau, Quebec, the Canadian Museum of History is Canada’s largest and most popular cultural institution, attracting over 1.2 million visitors each year. The Museum’s principal role is to enhance Canadians’ knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the events, experiences, people and objects that have shaped Canada’s history and identity, as well as to enhance Canadians’ awareness of world history and culture.

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