by Bob Gates It has been more than 90 years in the making but on Monday August 7, the Manitoba Jockey Club will roll out the 75th Running of the $125,000 Manitoba Derby. The road to the historic 75th has had many twists and turns, but we’ve made it relatively...
by Bob Gates As you know, the history blog has a soft spot for the early days of racing in the “Peg.” The horses, people and events associated with River, Whittier and Polo Parks, along with memories from Assiniboia Downs in its formative years, provide an abundance...
by Bob Gates In a little more than two weeks the Manitoba Jockey Club will present the historic 75th running of the $125,000 Manitoba Derby. Historic? Yes! There is something special about the phrase the “75th Running.” A possible topper to our upcoming milestone...
by Bob Gates Let’s take a short break from the usual fare you find on these pages and go with one of our photo blogs, shall we? This year’s 75th Running of the Manitoba Derby features $125,000 in purse money with an additional $100,000 bonus should a horse win...
by Bob Gates The place? Old Polo Park Racetrack, right here in River City. The date? Thursday, June 16, 1955. The occasion? One of the strangest days in the history of local horse racing. They had finished four of the seven races that were carded for the 11th day of...
by Bob Gates Like a lot of others, jockey Dean W. Kutz got his start at country fairs and riding in the bushes. However, unlike other saddlesmiths, Kutz battled the odds just to get his shot at sitting atop thousand-pound thoroughbreds. Dean was born in Harvey, North...
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 Fred was a thoroughbred who only knew one racetrack, Assiniboia Downs. His first start came as a 2-year-old on July 30, 1976. His final call to the post took place 11 years later, on May 24, 1987. He had reached the ripe old age of 13 and retirement...