Assiniboia Downs is a Canadian horse race track on of land located in the Winnipeg suburb of

St. James-Assiniboia St. James-Assiniboia is a major community area in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. As it encapsulates most of the city ward of St. James, which includes the major St. James Street, the area itself is often simply referred to "St. James." Located in th ...

. It is operated by the Manitoba Jockey Club and is the site of the annual

Manitoba Derby The Manitoba Derby is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at the beginning of August at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from ...

. The track is located on the western edge of the city, near the intersection of the

Perimeter Highway Provincial Trunk Highways (PTH) 100 and 101, collectively known as the Perimeter Highway, form a beltway around the Canadian city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Perimeter Highway is approximately in length and serves as a ring road around Winnipeg ...

and

Portage Avenue Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

. It was opened on June 10, 1958, replacing the former

Polo Park Racetrack The Polo Park Racetrack was a Canadian horse racing facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Considered one of the finest racetracks in Western Canada, it was built by Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee R. James Speers. The six-furlong track op ...

, which was demolished to make way for

Polo Park Shopping Centre Polo Park (corporately styled as CF Polo Park) is a shopping centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is situated on the former Polo Park Racetrack near the junction of Portage Avenue and St. James Street. Its grounds also includes a Scotiaba ...

Thoroughbred racing season events run from May and end in September. Harness racing events operate during the winter months.

History

Preparations were underway in September 1957 to construct a (est.) $4 million new horse racing venue in the Greater Winnipeg area, with seating capacity for 5,000 spectators. The width of the track would be with a six-furlong and 1⅛-furllong chutes. Assiniboia Downs would be located in the RM of Assiniboia at 3975 Portage Avenue. The racetrack took but seven weeks to complete construction. Harness racers had shown an interest at using the new racetrack, and if they couldn't, would use one in St. Vital instead. Construction of Assiniboia Downs would be competed in time for the beginning of the 1958 season in June, where 42 races would take place. Assiniboia Downs installed a state-of-the-art "tote" machine at the new racing venue which displayed betting information in real-time.

Off-track betting

In December 1987 Videon Cable-TV and Westman Cable's application to the CRTC to telecast live horse racing from Assiniboia Downs was approved. On January 23, 1988, Videon Cable-tv began telecasting Assiniboia Downs live harness racing to allow for off-track betting via telephone (Telephone Account Betting). Twenty phone lines were installed to handle incoming calls and they were frequently full. The signal was uplinked to the

Anik C3 Anik may refer to: * Anik (satellite), satellites launched by Canadian telecommunications company Telesat * Anik, Iran, a village in South Khorasan Province, Iran * Anik Mountain * Anik Bissonnette, a Canadian ballet dancer * Anik Jean (born 1977) ...

satellite. Initial telecasts on VSP-7 were a success, though Videon stated that on-air presentation between races could have been improved. Across the Red River, cable company Greater Winnipeg Cablevision did not telecast the harness racing and did not (initially) apply to the CRTC to do so. Today the Assiniboia Downs Racing Network is available on MTS TV ch. 179 and 180 and on the Internet via the HPIbet website.

References

External links

Assiniboia DownsManitoba Harness Racing
{{Horse racing venues in Canada Sports venues in Winnipeg Horse racing venues in Canada Harness racing venues in Canada 1958 establishments in Manitoba St. James, Winnipeg