by Bob Gates The Ragens were a multi-generational horse racing family with its roots in Ireland. Edward Michael Ragen was one of the original grand old men of racing. “Eddie” spent more than 70 years racing thoroughbreds, until an injury from a 1981 fall forced him...
by Bob Gates As the opening passage starts, “In the beginning…” One of the greatest horses in the history of horse racing made his first start on July 4, 1972. In time he would become America’s horse, so how fitting is it that Secretariat would go to post on...
by Bob Gates One of the many rewards of writing the history blog is meeting a lot of good people from the sport we all love. Getting to know Irwin Driedger easily sits near the top of that list. While we never met in person, we spoke several times over the last 10...
by Bob Gates Can you believe that come opening day, Monday May 22, 235 days will have passed since our four-legged athletes were called to the post here at the Downs last September 28. So, who’s ready for some live racing! If your keeping track, 2023 will be season...
by Bob Gates With only three days of "Live" left in 2022 Season, the 65th at ASD, we caught up with the portly old man who can usually be seen sitting on one of the benches closest to the grandstand. There he sat looking pensive, staring into the distance, so we...
by Bob Gates Most of us know Dr. Norm Elder as the one-time owner of Elder's Equine Clinic, or for that matter some might think he still owns the clinic. In addition, he's recognized as a member of the Manitoba Jockey Club (MJC) Board of Directors, but there's so much...
by Bob Gates Quiet and unassuming, that's Robert "call-me-Bob" Crockett. And this friends, makes his story challenging to tell. For the purposes of this history blog that means there's less information about him in the local newspapers, which is a major source...
by Bob Gates Werre? There has to be some of you wondering who Ed Werre is and what's so special about him? This is another one of those blogs where our person of interest represents a number of -- in this case -- riders who have spent a good portion of their lives at...
by Bob Gates Ron Turcotte was 14 when he left school to work as a lumberjack with his father. He saw his career go from cutting lumber in the bush to construction work and eventually he found his way to E. P. Taylor's Windfields Farm in 1960. In those early years his...
by Bob Gates There's a common thread that links books written to honour champions of the past and our humble blog stories. Both remember special equines from the early days of the Winnipeg racing scene who have long since passed. Not this time around! This multiple...