by Bob Gates The 2019 racing season is loaded with special anniversaries. Last week it was Barbara Jo Rubin and this week belongs to another jockey, Robert Roy "Bobby" Stewart. In 1969 the American Triple Crown races turned into a duel between Calgary resident Frank...
by Bob Gates On May 16, 1969, 19-year-old, Barbara Jo Rubin became the first female jockey to win a race at Assiniboia Downs. It's hard to believe, but a half century has passed since Barbara Jo's record-setting performance. Miss Rubin was a young jockey struggling to...
by Bob Gates The crazy Kentucky Derby is in the books for another year, so you know live racing at Assiniboia Downs can't be far off. Season #62 at the Downs breaks out of the starting gate at 1:15 p.m. on Mothers' Day, Sunday, May 12, and it should be a banner year!...
by Bob Gates November 11, 2018 marks the centenary of "The Great War." Whether you know it as Armistice Day, Veterans Day, Remembrance Day or by its informal name, "Poppy Day," it is one of the most revered days on the calendar. The first of the world wars only came...
by Bob Gates The end is near! Okay, perhaps that's a little too melodramatic, but this is my final blog story as the season draws to a close on Sunday, September 9. Wow, it seems like we just got started. Is it me or do the meets just go by faster every year? Consider...
by Bob Gates Horses that know how to win are the most revered in the sport of horse racing. Every owner, trainer, jockey and groom wants one -- a horse that knows where the wire is and lays it down to get there when it counts, every time, with no regard for the odds...
by Bob Gates Mays Relic came to Jack and Yvette Hardy's J. Y. Stable as a 5-year-old gelding by Bandit out of Georgia May, by War Relic. By the way, War Relic just happened to be the son of Man O' War. Their trainer, George Howell claimed the chestnut in January 1966...
by Bob Gates What do you get when you combine seven St. Boniface school teachers, $1,500 and a desire for fun and adventure? Back in May 1970 you'd get Hoarse Stable and a four-year-old thoroughbred called Windsor Moon. Who remembers him? This dark bay gelding was the...
by Bob Gates This week's title may be a little cryptic, but there are many of you who will know that our flashback in time is about the man who was Assiniboia Downs track superintendant from 1978 to 1999, Keith Trenholm. "Super" is such an appropriate title, because...
by Bob Gates Manitoba was celebrating its centenary in 1970 and the owner of Assiniboia Downs, Jack Hardy, wasn't about to let the occasion pass without taking full advantage. The 22nd running of the Manitoba Derby was the marquee event of the Assiniboia Downs racing...