Ontario steeplechasing - on 9th May 1843, the army in 'Canada West' put on a grand Military Steeplechase at London, 100 miles west of Toronto. This was only the second year of racing in Ontario, which in the next 15 years became more successful than that of Quebec because of an English rather than a French population. Canadian steeplechasing, beginning thus early and vigorously, was the principal parent of American. The History of Horse Racing by Roger Longrigg, page 220.