Minoru Racetrack

On opening day August 21, 1909, over 7,000 horseracing fans packed the Minoru Racetrack’s grandstands and clubhouses, arriving from all over the Lower Mainland in vehicles and on special Interurban trams.

Named after King Edward VII’s 1909 Epsom Derby winning horse, Minoru, the one-mile oval track was known as the best thoroughbred horse racetrack on the Pacific Coast. Barns holding hundreds of horses lined the west side of No. 3 Road where the Richmond Centre Mall now stands.

The Racetrack closed during World War I, but reopened in 1920. Racing continued until the 1940s when aging facilities and competition from Hastings Park in Vancouver forced it to close for the final time.

Photo credit: Racegoers in the grandstand at Minoru Park, 1920s. City of Richmond Archives #1978 11 1