A small carved headstone tucked between flowerbeds in Hendrie Park, on the Royal Botanical Gardens estate, marks the burial spot of Martimas — a Canadian-bred champion racehorse who won the Futurity at Sheepshead Bay in 1898. The Futurity was at the time the richest race for two-year-olds in North America; a Canadian horse beating the American field on home soil made Martimas one of the great sporting heroes of late-Victorian Ontario.
The estate where he was foaled is the same land that now holds the Royal Botanical Gardens. Park staff can point you to the spot; it is in the eastern part of the rose garden complex. A small piece of obscure Canadian sporting history.