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...
by Bob Gates R. C. Anderson, Frank Arnason, Jack Hardy, Phil Kives, R. J. Speers, J. W. Sifton and Hazel Wright make up the collective of builders that are remembered through memorial stake races in 2020 at Assiniboia Downs. There have been others over the years...
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...
by Bob Gates Much has been written about the president and founder of K-tel International since his unexpected death on April 27, 2016. Today we leave the world of the Miracle Brush, Veg-O-Matic, Teflon Fry Pan, Patty Stacker and records like "Hooked on Classics" and...
Jockey Chris Husbands won four of the eight races on Mothers' Day opening night 2016 at Assiniboia Downs; trainer Tom Gardipy Jr. scored a hat trick, and trainer Gary Danelson bookended the card with wins in the first (Don Gray Memorial) and eighth races in front of a...
by Bob Gates The 2016 live racing season kicks off on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 8, as has become our custom at Assiniboia Downs, and have I got a story for you. It goes like this: An old Cherokee told his grandson, "My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside...
by George If winning the Manitoba Derby was based solely on the company you kept, Master Lightning would be tough to beat. The royally-bred stakes-placed son of Bluegrass Stakes-G1 winner Pulpit had been running competitively against the best 3-year-olds in North...
The world champion colt with Manitoba breeding, Goldencents, is pointed to a race this Saturday, Nov. 27 that could solidify his chances of being named the top 3-year-old male of the year. Fresh from winning the world championship $1 million Breeders' Cup Mile...
Chalk up a historic "golden" moment for Manitoba on the world stage of horse racing. Goldencents, the 3-year-old colt born to Assiniboia Downs mare Golden Works, crushed 10 rivals in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile-G1 last Friday in the Breeders' Cup...
by Bob Today we remember an Aussie lass whose looks were nothing special, but could she run! Admiration was a bay mare owned by K5 Stables. Actually at that time it was still the K4 Stables that ran at the Downs from 1980 to 1983. K-Tel founder Phil Kives...