[caption id="attachment_3992" align="alignright" width="270"] Merry's Jay wins Manitoba Derby. August 2, 1976. Ken Hendricks up for trainer Clayton Gray.[/caption] by Bob No one has ridden more winners at Assiniboia Downs than the man they call "Hank". Ken Hendricks sits atop the Downs' leader board with 1,666 trips to the Winner's Circle. A quick scan of…
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The Winner’s Circle at Assiniboia Downs, a history of hallowed ground
[caption id="attachment_3538" align="alignright" width="270"] Dick Armstrong. Original Winner's Circle. Chain link fence. June 10, 1958[/caption] by Bob Arguably the most hallowed piece of real estate at any race track is the Winner's Circle, also sometimes referred to as the winner's enclosure and the charmed circle. Oddly enough, ours is not, and never has been, a…
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Uene, Solid Gold in 88
[caption id="attachment_2896" align="alignright" width="270" caption="Uene wins Assiniboia Downs Gold Cup, Sept. 4, 1988."][/caption] by Bob Uene was one of those special horses that left his hoofprints on the heart of Assiniboia Downs even though he only raced at our local oval for two short seasons. How does something like that happen? First of all,…
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The Osiris Stakes – Fabulous 50 and Counting!
[caption id="attachment_2756" align="alignright" width="270" caption="The original Osiris Juvenile Plate!"][/caption] by Bob So what do an Egyptian God and a horse named Papyrus have to do with our Osiris Stakes? According to Egyptian mythology, “Osiris” is the name given to the god of the afterlife. It is also the name of a racehorse that was…
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Merry’s Jay: Lord of Avondale and the Toast of Manitoba
[caption id="attachment_2513" align="alignright" width="270" caption="Merry's Jay wins 1976 Manitoba Derby."][/caption] First Manitoba-bred ever to win the Manitoba Derby by Bob In 1976 Merry’s Jay won the Harry Jeffrey Stakes. Eight days later he became the first Manitoba-bred ever to win our own Manitoba Derby. Only two other horses have won the Harry Jeffrey Stakes…
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Canada Day, Intercontinent, ASD Record Maker!
[caption id="attachment_2359" align="alignright" width="270" caption="Intercontinent defeats Major Enterprise in the 1981 Canada Day Stakes."][/caption] Kives' classy chestnut speedster one of the best ever to race at Downs by Bob This past Monday marked the 37th running of the $30,000 Canada Day Stakes for fillies and mares. Officially it may have been the 37th running,…
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