Tag Archives: ASD history

Light Dust: Champion of the Prairie Racing Circuit and Proudly a Manitoba-Bred

[caption id="attachment_16234" align="alignright" width="1000"] Light Dust becomes the only horse to win the Western Canada Handicap three times. Edmonton Journal. June 24, 1957.[/caption] by Bob Gates Last winter, during a covid-induced research binge, the name Light Dust jumped off the pages of the defunct Winnipeg Tribune. The headline read, "That's all for Light Dust." This…
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The Kid from Bellavista Crescent who Dared to Dream

[caption id="attachment_16078" align="alignright" width="1000"] May 28, 2010. Darren Dunn calls race #15,000 from the Winner's Circle.[/caption] by Bob Gates In a 1989 interview Darren Dunn told Paul Turney of the Daily Racing Form (DRF) that he was 11 years old when he heard his first race. "It was an exciting confrontation between Northern Diamond and…
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A Salute to Assiniboia Downs

[caption id="attachment_14112" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] The 2021 season at ASD is nearing the finish line.[/caption] by Bob Gates "The time has come," the Walrus said,                       "To talk of many things:                       Of shoes - and ships - and sealing-wax -                       Of cabbages and kings -                       And why the sea is boiling hot -…
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Celebrating 64 Years of the Gold Cup

  [caption id="attachment_14051" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Pool to Market sets new track record in 1967 Gold Cup at Assiniboia Downs[/caption] 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…
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August 20, 1976 – A Dashingly Special Memory!

[caption id="attachment_13528" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Dashing Demon draws away! August 20, 1976.[/caption] by Bob Gates This year marks the 10th season that the history blog has been recalling racing memories. Back in 2012, I was asked to write a weekly historical blog that would run during the Downs live thoroughbred race meet. Fast forward to the…
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