[caption id="attachment_12481" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] The old man on the bench at ASD. Have you seen him?[/caption] by Bob Gates Perhaps you've seen him before, the short heavy-set old man sitting on a bench in front of the grandstand. Certainly not recently because of the "no fans in the stands" directive, but in previous years the…
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Women who rocked the Powder Puff Derby
[caption id="attachment_3570" align="alignright" width="270"] Eileen Blake, winner of the first Powder Puff Derby at ASD in 1960.[/caption] by Bob I'm guessing the name "Powder Puff" was created by a male of our species. Certainly there aren't many women these days that would come up with such a sexist sounding name for a horse race featuring…
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Cecil James Filby – Extraordinarily Ordinary Man
by Bob Anyone who has been around the Downs for a while has likely heard of Cecil Filby, and as our Manitoba Derby fast approaches some may wonder why I selected him for this week’s remembrance. Was it for his accomplishments in our prestigious Derby? Was it for his life-long achievements at the Downs? No.…
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