by Track Historian Bob Gates Let’s go for a walk and retrace the steps of jockeys that the newspaper scribes once called the “winningest” riders in the history of Assiniboia Downs. “Winningest” is an awkward term and not one you hear much anymore. So let’s go with...
Ken Hendricks
The Stories We Leave Behind
By Track Historian Bob Gates Have you ever wondered what inspires these stories from our racing’s past, a song, a smell, or perhaps even a line from a movie? This time around it’s a quote from the CBS television series NCIS. “We all die twice. Once when our bodies...
They’re Baaack!
By Track Historian Bob Gates The 150th Running of the Kentucky Derby – check. Mothers’ Day Brunch at the Downs – check. So now you know live racing at our Portage Avenue track is just around the corner. Throw in a surprise telephone call from long-since retired...
The Room
by Bob Gates Deep within the confines of the north end of the Assiniboia Downs grandstand on the lower level is a restricted area where only jockeys, valets and officials are allowed. Of course, this is “The Room,” the place jockeys call home. Thoughts on the Room:...
Anatomy of a Track Record
by Bob Gates Does the title of our blog story this week have a familiar ring to it? Hope so. Most of you are probably too young to remember the 1959 American courtroom drama and crime film "Anatomy of a Murder" produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The film stars...
Celebrating 64 Years of the Gold Cup
by Bob Gates One of the many challenges facing Jack Hardy when he opened Assiniboia Downs in 1958 was to establish races that would grow into annual contests steeped in tradition. In the first year of operation the only signature race with "tradition" was the...
Karen Chysyk – The Powder Puff Queen with the Million Dollar Smile
by Bob Gates Yet another fair lass from Saskatoon who called Assiniboia Downs home. Sound familiar? It should, as Karen Hendricks, nee Chysyk, started her journey with Joan Phipps, whose story was told here in August 2019. Karen grew up a stone's throw away from...
The Golden Age of Horse Racing
by Bob Gates The 1970s were a special time for the Sport of Kings. The decade bragged of its three Triple Crown winners Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977) and Affirmed (1978). Secretariat's sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes ended a 25-year...
Live Racing a Go for Second Year in a Row at ASD with No Fans in the Stands
by Bob Gates The 2021 season gets underway on Monday, May 24. This will be the second year of the pandemic "No Fans in the Stands" season of racing. Sure, it's not what everyone wants, but it beats the blazes out of seeing the local racing scene fade into obscurity. I...
It all began with a “Fling” – Island Fling that is…
by Bob Gates More than 40 years ago, the late Philip Kives built his K5 racing empire on the back of Island Fling. Phil couldn't recall how he met up with Don Gray, but Gray was the man he approached about buying a horse and getting into the racing biz. According to...