[caption id="attachment_16972" align="alignright" width="1000"] Call My Number wins at ASD on July 13, 1977. Ed Werre up for trainer Tom Dodds.[/caption] by Bob Gates Werre? There has to be some of you wondering who Ed Werre is and what's so special about him? This is another one of those blogs where our person of interest…
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Karen Chysyk – The Powder Puff Queen with the Million Dollar Smile
[caption id="attachment_13474" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Karen Hendricks and Sir Double. March 17, 1981.[/caption] by Bob Gates Yet another fair lass from Saskatoon who called Assiniboia Downs home. Sound familiar? It should, as Karen Hendricks, nee Chysyk, started her journey with Joan Phipps, whose story was told here in August 2019. Karen grew up a stone's throw…
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The Golden Age of Horse Racing
[caption id="attachment_13328" align="alignleft" width="986"] 1971 Powder Puff Derby winner Karen (Chysyk) Hendricks (center). Runner-up Joan Phipps to the right of Jack Hardy.[/caption] by Bob Gates The 1970s were a special time for the Sport of Kings. The decade bragged of its three Triple Crown winners Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977) and Affirmed (1978). Secretariat's sweep…
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Jockey Joan Phipps: Saskatoon Sweetheart and Downs Darling
[caption id="attachment_10656" align="alignright" width="1000"] Joan Phipps. First win at Assiniboia Downs. Thistle Dawn. July 7, 1972[/caption] by Bob Gates Life in Saskatoon grew to be a bore and at times even a nightmare for young Joan Phipps. School work couldn’t hold a candle to competing in the Saskatoon-Regina-Prince Albert light horse show circuit where she…
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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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