[caption id="attachment_5380" align="alignright" width="390"] Phil Kives with Island Fling in 1978.[/caption] 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"…
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A Tale of Two Wolves for 2016 Opening Day at ASD
[caption id="attachment_5124" align="aligncenter" width="780"] One of three winners for Bernie "Longshot" Howland on Opening Day 1971.[/caption] 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…
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For the Love of Racing, Those Were the Days…
[caption id="attachment_4427" align="alignright" width="270"] On the tarmac at ASD after the races, in the "old" days.[/caption] by Bob With less than a handful of live racing dates left, the end of the 2015 season at Assiniboia Downs is almost upon us. It has been a challenging year, like others recently, but that seems to be…
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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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Hugh and Ruth Jackson, Merry’s Jay, and beautiful music in the 1976 Manitoba Derby
[caption id="attachment_4312" align="alignright" width="270"] Hugh and Ruth Jackson with Mayor Steven Juba. Manitoba Derby 1976.[/caption] by Bob When it comes to Derby memories, it gets no better than Merry's Jay win on August 2, 1976. And it couldn't have happened to a nicer couple. Hugh and Ruth Jackson were another one of those special husband/wife…
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Woodlands’ Wizard – Ed Pawluk
[caption id="attachment_4303" align="alignright" width="270"] Ed Pawluk's Tigger Bay was voted 2003 Alberta Champion 3-Year-Old Colt.[/caption] by Bob When he's not falling out of trees, Woodlands' Ed Pawluk can be found hard at work on his 40-acre farm with his partner-for-life, Joyce. Some 40 odd years ago, Ed and Joyce sold the trailer park they owned…
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Mike Smith. Good guy. Done too soon.
[caption id="attachment_4269" align="alignright" width="270"] Mike Smith, Leading Trainer 1981. Irwin Driedger, Leading Jockey. Adrienne Gobuty presenting.[/caption] by Bob If this was a tale about the old west, Michael Somerset Smith would have been one the guys wearing a white Stetson. You know -- the one the good guys wore in westerns. Simply put, Mike loved…
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