By Bob Gates The Manitoba Derby goes Monday August 5th and for some of us horse racing die-hards it's like a second Christmas. How about another one of our photo blogs? This time around we searched the archives for some of those not-so-standard winner circle shots of...
Andy Robinson - Wpg Tribune June 22, 1923 By Bob Gates “One of the finest trainers in the racing game.” R. J. Speers – Edmonton Bulletin, January 29, 1932 “The grand old man of Western Canada’s old guard of training.” Winnipeg Free Press, May 21, 1936 “Andy Robinson...
by Bob Gates In the early 1950s Eddie Dean wrote a song that he said was inspired by a dream. Dean recorded "Hillbilly Heaven" in 1954 but it never really caught on. In 1961 Tex Ritter, father of the late TV actor John Ritter, released his version, which became a huge...
by Bob Gates This year's Winnipeg Futurity marks the 90th running of the prestigious race for 2-year-olds, which makes it the oldest continuously run race in western Canada. Yeah, I know, you'll hear a lot about the recent Canadian Derby's 90th running, but those...
by Bob Gates Not even Looney Tunes with its wascally wabbit has anything on thoroughbred horse racing when it comes to the zany and unusual. From the annals of Winnipeg turf lore, few stories rival the wondrous happenings at Assiniboia Downs or at Jimmy Speers' old...
by Bob It's not likely many will remember the name Harold “Spud” Murphy. Those who do will probably associate it with his horse Brother Leo, who won the Manitoba Derby in 1963, but this week's trip back in time centers around the first horse Spud ever owned, Joe...