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LAST CHANCE TO GOOSTIMATE! Midnight tomorrow (Friday) is the deadline for your prediction on when you think the geese will leave the infield. Hundreds of dollars in cash, betting vouchers and more are up for grabs. Email your prediction to theinsider@assiniboiadowns.com For more info, read last week's Insider or go to the Goose Cam page on the Downs' website.
TONIGHT'S THEME NIGHT BUFFET: Thanksgiving (turkey and all the trimmin's). All-you-can-eat $14.95. Menu. Phone 885-3330 ext. 0 to reserve.
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| WHITTIER PARK RACE TRACK IN 1933: Note the large tree, about 65 years old at the time, at the top of the picture just inside the infield where horses turned for home in their drive to the wire. That's the same tree that "watches" baseball in the park today. |
It's huge. More than 10 feet around. And likely planted around the time Manitoba officially became a province in 1870. An elm tree. Standing proudly in Whittier Park in St. Boniface where the Red River snakes closely by. All alone but not looking lonely. If it could talk! If it could only talk . . .
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| Darren Dunn stands where race horses at Whittier Park turned for home around the tree. | What tales would it tell about the thousands of race horses that passed over its roots and under its leafy canopy as they rounded the turn for home during Whittier Park's late-spring and late-summer race meets from 1924 to 1942? Did the tree perhaps overhear a conversation in which the track's builder, R. James Speers, told workmen in 1923 that he wanted to save the elm so they’d better figure out a way to build the track around it?
Remembering royalty, 1939: How fondly would it remember Sunday, June 4, 1939? That's the day an adoring crowd of 18,000 gathered to wave at King George VI and Queen Elizabeth as their blue and white train chugged along the high embankment overlooking the track.
Surely the buzz in the grandstand on June 9, 1942 would have been memorable. On that day, a lucky bettor by the name of Mike Markowich cashed a 10-4 daily double ticket worth a whopping $4,835.55, still believed to be a Canadian record.
And did Mr. Whittier Tree feel lonely when the horses left in 1943? The world was at war and rationing was in effect. Whittier was forced to share in racing dates at Polo Park race track.
Raging waters 1950: And water, lots of water, would likely have figured heavily in the recollections about 1950 One of the worst floods ever in the Red River Valley had water lapping around the tree and left the grandstand in ruins.
Then 1958 would surely evoke feelings of nostalgia. Under the tree's great canopy, heavy machinery scraped the silt and clay off the track to be hauled across town where it would be mixed with sand to surface a spanking new race track--Assiniboia Downs.
“Play ball!” Today at Whittier, the crack of a bat and the calls of a baseball umpire fill the air which once was alive with thundering hooves and roaring crowds. High school students from around the province who come to play in baseball tournaments on Sundays know there's something special about the tree--"we couldn't build our diamond too close to it"--but they're not sure what.
Winter will bring the Festival du Voyageur to the park. And, at the far end, Fort Gibraltar, the replica of a fur-trading outpost built in the early 1800s, is a tourist attraction. Do visitors know, though, that elsewhere in the park is a living monument to perhaps a more fascinating history?
Hugging history: If trees can't talk, well, at least there are other ways to communicate. When track announcer Darren Dunn first laid eyes on this historic elm recently, he hugged it passionately and just kept saying "wow." Maybe, in its own way, Mr. Whittier Tree understood.
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| THE WHITTIER TREE IN 1950: The tree (circled) during the 1950 flood which ruined the grandstand. Note the elevated train tracks from which King George and Queen Elizabeth waved to a huge adoring crowd during their 1939 royal visit. The Provencher Street bridge is at the far left in this picture, most of it out of view. |
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| THE WHITTIER TREE TODAY: Downs track announcer Darren Dunn stands on what would have been Whittier's home stretch and now is a baseball diamond. Horses made the turn around the tree to head down the stretch. Smitten by the tree's historical past, Darren gave it a big hug (inset). |
| Legend of "The Clocker"
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"The Clocker" of
Whittier Park | Legend has it that a crow loved to perch in the big elm tree to watch horses working out in the mornings. If a horse put in a particularly fast workout, he would flap his wings vigorously and caw with delight. Horsemen became used to this morning ritual and named him "The Clocker." These visits apparently continued for five years. There's no word, though, on whether the crow's performance carried more weight than the official holding the stopwatch. |
Did you know that . . . Whittier Park race track was named after a poet, John Greenleaf Whittier, who wrote The Red River Voyageur, a favourite poem of the race track's founder, R. James Speers? The first line, "Out and in the river is winding," perfectly describes the location of Whittier Park next to a curve in the Red River.
How to get to the tree: It's very easy. If you're coming from downtown, cross the Provencher Bridge and turn left at Rue St. Joseph's. That will lead you directly to Whittier Park. Once you start driving into the park, the great tree is impossible to miss. It's a beautiful hilly area to visit and walk around in.
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Bob Gates |
A big thank-you to Bob Gates! Without the help of Bob Gates who is writing a history of horse racing in Manitoba, I couldn't have gathered these pertinent pictures and information. I owe him a huge debt of gratitude. I read several preliminary chapters of his book and all I can say is: It will be one heck of a read when he's completed his labour of love. Thankfully, I was able to help him somewhat, too. I tracked down pictures taken in the winners' circle at Whittier Park in the 1930s. I'll run one in next week's Insider.
New poker & VLT madness!
Unlimited free poker every Friday and Saturday!
Games galore in the casino-style VLT lounge!
Assiniboia Downs' most ambitious promotional program ever for the fall and winter
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| Surround yourself in fun! Poker's free Fri & Sat; buy-in on Sundays. | months gets underway this weekend, the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. There will now be four--count 'em, FOUR--games of free poker, two on Friday nights and two on Saturday nights. And EVERYBODY gets to play. There's no player limit. The games will begin at 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Play in all of them if you wish. THREE TRIPS to Las Vegas and the World Series of Poker are up for grabs based on points earned by players. Also, the winner of each game gets $50. And don't forget Sundays are $50 buy-in poker afternoons in the Clubhouse starting at 1 p.m.
PANDEMONIUM IN THE GAMING LOUNGE! All kinds of special action is scheduled throughout the month in the VLT lounge. Win up to $100, spa packages and more! Thanksgiving Monday features a $500 cash feast! (Email agray@assiniboiadowns.com to find out how it works.) There's yahtzee, lucky numbers, the mystery game, Wheel of Fortune and EVERY FRIDAY IS LADIES' NIGHT with a draw for a spa and tan package courtesy of Fingers & Toes and Fabutan. What's happening and when? See schedule here.
LAST WEEKEND'S WINNERS: Ganas is king of buy-in
Sunday's buy-in poker: Restauranteur John Ganas is king of Sunday buy-in poker. He entered the $50 buy-in tournament twice and has won both times, this past Sunday picking up $322 when he split the pot with Rochelle Feuillatre who also won $322. There were 23 players. Play every Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Clubhouse. Hosted by the horsemen to raise money for the backstretch chaplaincy.
Friday's "5-Alive" winner: Congrats to car salesman Dave Brockhill who correctly predicted three show horses, a place horse and a winner at Remington Park Friday night. He won $100 for being a better selector than 20 other entrants. Red River College math prof Jim Roberts picked up $53 in a betting spree. Play "5-Alive" every Friday at 7 p.m. for cash and betting sprees!
Local players in Vegas: Congrats to Jeff Goy's team! They finished eighth in the fall horseplayer tournament at the Orleans Hotel and Casino and picked up $4,800 and a free entry into the $1 million Horseplayer World Series in February. Spotting two $60 horses helped their cause. Jeff is president of the local chapter of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Gray/Harder win at Northlands
Northlands Park: Congrats to trainer Clayton Gray and apprentice jockey Alyssa Harder for teaming up to win the first race last Sunday in Edmonton with Green Destiny ($11). Other trainers haven't been as successful. Rob Atras blanked with three of his starters including Muffin's Star last night. On Saturday, watch for Gold Medal Stables' Britannia Road in the $50,000 Duchess of York Stakes and on Sunday, Gray's stakes-winning filly Honorable Lady in the $50,000 City of Freedom Stakes for 2-year-old fillies.
Fort Erie: Carl Anderson trainee Brinello and Blair Miller trainee Paullinus finished 4th and 5th respectively in an allowance race Monday at Fort Erie. Watch for horses from the Dark Cloud Stable at the Fort on Thanksgiving Day including the tough filly, Smiling.
TURKEY TALK WEEKEND: Keeneland kicks off
Can Keeneland, which starts its 17-day race meet tomorrow, stop the bleeding? Its  handle has been in free-fall since installing Polytrack. Betting was off almost 20 per cent at its spring meet while wagering at its dirt-track competitors--Oaklawn and Gulfstream--showed inceases over last year. The track now is offering its races in high-definition in a bid to outdo its competitors. Regardless of your views on Poly, remember there is still great turf racing!
Northlands wraps up: This is the final weekend of racing at Northlands Park, with plenty of stakes action. Watch for local horses!
It's Columbus Day in the U.S.: Our Thanksgiving Day overlaps with Columbus Day in the U.S., which means prime racing action at major tracks in the U.S. on Monday, too! See schedule here.
Have a great Thanksgiving weekend!
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