By Tyler Sutherland
Assiniboia Downs
It’s a historic day in the city’s horse racing community, as the 70th anniversary of the now-defunct Whittier Park racing track is being marked.
The track was built near a bend in the Red River in St. Boniface before running its last race in 1924. There were plans to later reopen the track, but the Great Flood of 1950 sealed its fate, leaving Polo Park as the only reasonable location for another track. The St. James-area track would close itself in 1956 to make way for the future shopping centre.
Two years later, Assiniboia Down on Winnipeg’s outer western edge opened two years later with a track surface made up of silt and clay from the former Whittier Park track.
Living racing post times at the Downs this weekend are 7 p.m. tonight and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
