Charlottetown Driving Park
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The Charlottetown Driving Park (CDP), located in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada is a harness racing track for racing standardbred horses.
[edit] History
The CDP opened on October 2, 1889 at a site along the west bank of the Hillsborough River in the rural community of Parkdale (amalgamated into Charlottetown in 1996). The facility soon established itself as one of the premiere race tracks in eastern Canada.
The track is comprised of an oval dirt surface standardbred race course. Its original judge's stand built in 1889 still stands on the inner field, having been restored in 1999. The starting gate, dating to 1948 and the first of its kind in Canada, was also restored to operational use in 1999.
During the third week of August, the CDP hosts "Old Home Week", Prince Edward Island's annual provincial agricultural exhibition running 15 racing programs over 9 days. A newer tradition since 1960, "Old Home Week" culminates in the running of the "Gold Cup and Saucer" finale at the end of the exhibition - a race which has drawn celebrities and royalty and locals alike.
The CDP grandstand originally housed a restaurant and enclosed and open viewing areas for both winter and temperate season racing. Damaged by Hurricane Juan in September 2003, the CDP grandstand has been reconfigured to accommodate a "racino" development on the property.
In 1990 the adjacent Charlottetown Civic Centre was built onto the CDP complex. A disastrous fire in the early 1990s among the wood-constructed horse stables led to the building of many new concrete stables, although urban development pressures around the CDP site may lead to horse owners being forced to practise their animals at another site on the outskirts of Charlottetown, leaving the CDP as primarily a race facility.
Between 2003-2005, the provincial government and the Atlantic Lottery Corporation have been redeveloping the CDP with an improved track, lighting and a gaming facility containing video lottery terminals (VLTs); such facilities are commonly termed "racinos".
Today the CDP calls itself "Atlantic Canada's Fastest Racetrack" and is the centrepiece of Prince Edward Island's harness racing industry - one which has led to the province being called "The Kentucky of Canada".
