1892 – A racetrack had been built, and regular races were held.

1926 – Happyland (now Playland) opened on the site. The grounds were seconded for wartime mobilization, parades, and patriotic gatherings during World War I and II.

1939 – July 1, 1939, marked the first time thoroughbred racing used an electric starting gate, the invention of Texan Clay Puett.

1942 – Large section of Hastings Park was used to detain over 8000 Japanese Canadians before they were sent to internment camps and work camps. The VEA, later named Pacific National Exhibition (PNE), was operated as a Provincial Crown Corporation (1973-2003) and leased a portion of the Hastings Park site from the City. In the same year, all racing from the two other tracks in the Vancouver area, Brighouse and Lansdowne, were transferred to Hastings racecourse due to wartime gas rationing.

1950’s – The demolition of the PNE’s original Giant Dipper rollercoaster resulted the expansion of the racing oval to its current five-eighths mile.

1965 – A 5,000-seat grandstand was built, and the north end was leveled. In the same year, new grandstands were added.

1968 – The installation of lights and the beginning of the night racing.

1976 – The grandstand was further expanded.

1993 – When the government did not renew its lease. The New Democratic Party (NDP) government introduced a new racing act that created the Pacific Racing Association (PRA) to operate Hastings Park racecourse.

2002 – The PRA soon found itself in a cash crunch, and racing in the province was in a downward spiral. Woodbine Entertainment Group subsequently took over operations of Hastings Park Racecourse on April 30, 2002.

2004 – In March 2004, Great Canadian Casinos and Wall Financial Corporation, representing local ownership, agreed to acquire Hastings Entertainment Inc. and assumed operations control on April 8, 2004.

2011 – The racetrack was almost to its end when it had low profits from wagering revenue, and Slots had difficulty reaching an agreeable new lease with the City on May 18, 2011. Fortunately, negotiations have been made for the survival of the track.

2012 – International headlines boosted the track when little-known Mexican-born jockey Mario Gutierrez won the Santa Anita Derby, the Kentucky Derby, and the Preakness Stakes aboard I’ll Have Another.