The Blue Bonnets Raceway opened on June 4th, 1907 in the city of Montreal. It had originally been located on the Jos. Decary farm, but in 1886 the Ontario and Quebec Railway laid down tracks effectively splitting the raceway in half.
In 1858, Jean-Louis Levesque added a mult-million dollar clubhouse on the grounds. The racetrack rivaled many Ontario race tracks at the time. From 1961 to 1975 the Blue Bonnets Raceway was the official home to the Quebec Derby.
Ownership of the track was passed onto the municipal government in the early 1990s which rebranded the racetrack as The Hippodrome.
When thoroughbred racing ended at the track, the profits began to decline. In 1997 the City of Montreal sold the land to a provincial company named Attractions Hippiques. Attractions Hippiques were the owners of four horse-racing tracks.
On June 27, 2008 Attractions Hippiques ended horse racing and sought bankruptcy protection. After 16 months of creditor protection, the racetrack closed permanently on October 13, 2009. Assets were sold off with proceeds going to creditors.
The band U2 did breath a little life back into the track when, on July 8th and 9th 2011 they performed at the Hippodrome.
In 2018 the City of Montreal announced they were ready to move forward with demolition of the property.
During out visit in 2017, there was 24/7 security. They allowed us to look around but wouldn’t allow us entry into the stands.
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