Some of the K5 awards on display at the K-Tel head office trophy case 2013 (Bob Gates photo)
By Track Historian Bob Gates
It’s hard to believe that K5’s Philip Kives has been gone for ten years. The memory of April 27, 2016, remains strong. In the late afternoon, Phil’s executive assistant, Shelley Colquhoun, called with the sad news. Her boss of over 30 years had passed. His declining health had only been shared with a select few, so his death came as a shock to most.
K5 farm manager, Leona Stahl, another long-time employee told of the calls and texts that had come in from all over North America. Phil’s life had touched so many, more than most of us can imagine. The Kives family, the business world and horse racing were forever changed. His was the kind of loss from which you simply do not recover.
Phil with his first thoroughbred Island Fling, circa 1977 (Gerry Hart photo)
In the summer that followed a race was to be named to honour Phil’s memory. The race, for Manitoba foals, colts and geldings, 3-years-old and up, had been known as the Agassiz Stakes. The Agassiz brought with it a 40-year history and was renamed the Phil Kives Stakes for the 2016 season. Together with ten years of the Kives, 2026 marks a half-century of racing from some of the best Manitoba bred colts and geldings.
The Agassiz dates back to February 1976 when five new races were being offered for the 1976 meet. The result was a record $52,000 more in stakes money for Manitoba-breds and Manitoba-owned thoroughbreds, a $37,000 increase over the 1975 stakes money.
“Every man who has acquired a bit of money should have a hobby and a worry, and he can have both, if he owns a racehorse.”
– Robert James Speers
Kives was an owner and breeder of racehorses in Manitoba for four decades. Under his leadership, K5 Stable was a key component of the thoroughbred breeding industry in Manitoba. Kives was a perennial leading owner and top breeder at Assiniboia Downs whose orange and black silks with K5 emblazoned on the back were easily recognizable. The stable was named after his family. At first, it was K4, for himself, wife, Ellie and daughters Kelly and Samantha. In 1982, it was changed to K5, after son Daniel joined the clan.
Phil loved the ponies. He had only been involved in racing for a brief time when the opportunity to acquire Jim and Hazel Wright’s El Mingo Farm, located just north of the racetrack, presented itself. The Kives farm was born and Phil was into racing and breeding thoroughbreds in a huge way.
Under Kives, the stable won eight Gold Cups, six R. J. Speers Stakes, five Matrons, three Winnipeg Futurities and two runnings of the Manitoba Derby, as well as many other stakes.
Victor’s Pride won the first four runnings of the Agassiz – Phil Kives Stakes (Gerry Hart photo)
A closer look at the previous winners of the Kives (formerly known as the Agassiz) reveals outstanding champions. Stoneacres Farm’s Victor’s Pride won the first four runnings (1976 to 1979). Dr. Ross McKague’s Brinello made six appearances (2006 to 2011). The multiple stakes winner won it four years in-a-row (2007 to 2010) and was runner-up in 2006 and 2011. Langara made six starts, winning the inaugural running of the Kives in 2016. He added wins in 2017, 2018 and 2019. He had an off year in 2020, but the 2021 edition would be his “swan song” as it were and he went out a winner!
Brinello won four consecutive editions of the Agassiz 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 (Gerry Hart photo)
In addition to these dominant performances, there are at least three others deserving of mention. Gus Again appeared in six runnings (2001 to 2007) winning three, finishing second twice and third once. C.C. Ride made five starts (2012 to 2017), winning two, while adding a second and two thirds. Lastly, McKague has ran in the last five Kives (2021 to 2025) and sports a record of two wins and three second-place efforts.
Langara won the 2016 running of the Kives and added 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021 (Jason Halstead / Assiniboia Photo)
Top trainer honours for the Kives go to Carl Anderson who won the race eight times. It comes as no coincidence that Carl once commented on how difficult it is for a horse to win the same stakes race in consecutive years. The long and short of it was that Carl knew what he was talking about. Jockey honours belong to Tim Gardiner who registered six wins in the 50-year history of the stakes.
The first 40 years of the Kives Stakes legacy may not have been run under Phil’s name, but you would be hard-pressed to find a more appropriate race to honour the Master of K5.
Ten years gone, Phil your love for the sport was a blessing…
And your memory, a treasure.