E. P. Taylor
1901 - 1989
A Canadian whose breeding farms were in Ontario and Maryland, E. P. Taylor nevertheless had a profound influence on Kentucky. His patronage of the Keeneland select yearling sale was significant in its emergence as the elite among international auctions, and his Windfields Farm was the sale's leading consignor three times. As the breeder of Northern Dancer and his son Nijinsky II, Taylor created a lasting influence on international breeding. Northern Dancer, winner of the 1964 Kentucky Derby, became the leading sire at 12 Keeneland summer yearling sales. Taylor's entrepreneurial career had many chapters. He first developed a fleet of buses and cabs in 1920s Toronto, later consolidated the brewing industry in Canada, and then did the same for Ontario's horse racing circuit. In the meantime, he was appointed by Sir Winston Churchill as president of the wartime British Supply Council in North America. The handsome Woodbine track, host of the 1996 Breeders' Cup and annual site of the Queen's Plate, was masterminded largely by Taylor's vision for world class racing in his native land. Taylor, who for a time owned a farm in Lexington, was succeeded by a son, Charles, after a stroke in 1980. Taylor bred 323 stakes winners, more than anyone else in history.
Marker can be reached from the intersection of East Main Street (U.S. 60) and Midland Avenue (U.S. 60), on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
