Robert T. Davies

Infobox_Person
name = Robert T. Davies


imagesize =
caption =
birth_date = May 19, 1849
birth_place = Toronto, Ontario flagicon|Canada
death_date = death date and age|1916|4|22|1849|5|19|mf=y
death_place = Toronto, Ontario flagicon|Canada
resting_place = Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
residence = "Chester Park," Toronto
education = Upper Canada College
occupation = Businessman
Racehorse owner/breeder
party =
spouse = Margaret Anne Taylor
children = George (b. 1876), Robert (b. 1881), Louise (b.1882), Norman (b. 1887), Adelia (b. 1888), Wilfred (b. 1890), Melville (b. 1891), Leslie (b. 1895)
parents =
religion = ProtestantInfobox Awards
title = Honors
halign =
box_width = 23em
award1 = Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (2001)
award2 =

Robert T. Davies (May 19, 1849 - April 22, 1916) was a Canadian businessman and Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorse owner and breeder.

Born in Toronto, Ontario, he studied at Park School and Upper Canada College, in the early 1870s Robert Davies married Margaret Anne Taylor, the daughter of John Taylor, owner of paper mills in Todmorden Mills, Ontario. By the turn of the century, they had had eight children and owned a large home at 244 Don Mills Rd (now Broadview/O'Connor) in Todmorden Mills they called "Chester Park."

In 1879, Robert Davies founded the Dominion Brewing Co. Ten years later, his success led to the selling of shares in the company to a group of investors arranged by a London, England banking house. After his wife's family encountered financial difficulties, in 1901 Davies acquired most of the Taylor family holdings in the Don Valley, including two paper mills and the Don Valley Brick Works. By the time of his death in 1916, Robert Davies was one of the wealthiest people in Toronto.

Thoroughbred racing

As a boy, Robert Davies developed a love for horse racing and for a while was on jockey in Thoroughbred flat racing. In 1865 at the racetrack in London, Ontario, the then sixteen-year-old rode in that years edition of the Queen's Plate. He soon turned to training his own horses and at age twenty-two raced and trained Floss who won the 1871 edition of the Plate. The following year, a horse he bred named Fearnaught won the Plate. As of 2008 Robert Davies is the only person to ever ride in the Queen's Plate as well as own, train and breed winners of that race.

In 1888, Davies purchased a large property in the Don Valley from his farther-in-law on which he established a breeding operation he dubbed Thorncliffe Farms. He raced horses both in Thoroughbred flat racing and in harness racing under the "nom de course", Thorncliffe Stable.

Davies served as president of the Canadian Horse Breeder's Association. A vice-president of the Ontario Jockey Club from 1895 to 1904, he unsuccessfully lobbied for the lifting of the rule that prevented horses foaled outside of the Province of Ontario from competing in the King's Plate.

Robert Davies died in 1916 at "Chester Park" and was buried in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto. For his contribution to the industry, in 2001 he was inducted in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in the Builders category. His estate sold Thorncliffe Farms to a group of investors from Baltimore, Maryland who built a horse Thorncliffe Park Raceway.

References

* [http://www.canadianhorseracinghalloffame.com/builders/2001/Robert_Davies.asp Robert Davies at the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame]
* [http://www.torontorealestateboard.com/about_TO/Neighbourhood/regions/eastyork/67.html Thorncliffe Park history from the Toronto real estate Board]
* [http://www.lostrivers.ca/points/Don%20and%20Dominion%20Brewries.htm The Don and The Dominion Breweries]
* [http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/pm.php?id=story_line&lg=English&fl=0&ex=00000228&sl=4303&pos=1 History of the Taylor/Davies properties and businesses in the Don Valley]