Monthly Archives: August 2015

Spring, Sprints and a Spike, with record-setting speed

[caption id="attachment_15760" align="alignright" width="390"] Trainer Phil Hayek with Northern Spike.[/caption] by Bob Those of us who go back to the early 1980s will know that "Spike" is none other than Northern Spike. He was owned and bred by the late Ivan Dowler in partnership with sons Graham, John and Dan - Graham and John have…
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Robert James Speers Stakes – The Tradition Continues!

[caption id="attachment_4368" align="alignright" width="270"] 1960 Speers Handicap presentation ceremony (L to R) E. Johanson, Scotty Kennedy, Gene Pederson. Scotty's daughter Joan in front.[/caption] by Bob Sixty years ago this past July 19, Robert James Speers, the "Father of Thoroughbred Horse Racing on the Canadian Prairies" died as a result of a massive heart attack at…
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Honest Onyx and Exclusive Gold: The dead-heat twins that made history at Assiniboia Downs

[caption id="attachment_4349" align="alignright" width="270"] Exclusive Gold (left) and Honest Onyx, with trainers Les Simms and Jeff Schindler.[/caption] by Bob Today's flashback in history recalls the 1994 rivalry between Honest Onyx and Exclusive Gold. Robert Ripley, creator of Ripley's Believe It or Not, would have loved this one. Imagine two thoroughbreds so evenly matched that after…
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The Magnificent Seven – Riders at ASD

by Bob The very title conjures up images of Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen and company! Cue the main theme and seven of the most successful riders in the history of Assiniboia Downs make their entrance on the stage that is our humble 6 1/2-furlong oval. This season marks our 58th year of operation…
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