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Polo Park Racetrack

Defunct horse racing venues in CanadaHorse racing venue stubsManitoba geography stubsSports venues in WinnipegSt. James, Winnipeg

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 opened in 1925 (replacing Speer's River Park Racetrack) under the charter of the Winnipeg Jockey Club and the charter of St. Vital Agricultural Society in Winnipeg, Manitoba. At the same time, James Speers founded the Prairie Thoroughbred Breeders' Association to promote a breeding industry in Western Canada. In 1930 he created the Canadian Derby, a premier race for Canadian-bred three-year-old Thoroughbreds hosted by Polo Park Racetrack until its closure in 1956. Besides the track, the facility had stables, grandstand and clubhouse for the Manitoba Jockey Club. In the winter the racetrack constructed two large toboggan slides, which operated in each direction. James Speers acquired land to build what would become Assiniboia Downs and granted an option on the Polo Park lands to real estate developers who wished to build a shopping centre on the site. Speers died in July 1955 and Polo Park Racetrack closed at the end of the 1956 racing season. The new mall opened in 1959. Winnipeg did not have a racing meet in 1957, but Assiniboia Downs opened in June 1958 and racing continued.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Polo Park Racetrack (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Polo Park Racetrack
Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

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N 49.8839 ° E -97.1995 °
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CF Polo Park

Portage Avenue 1485
R3G 0W4 Winnipeg
Manitoba, Canada
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Winnipeg Velodrome

The Winnipeg Velodrome was a cycling facility built in Winnipeg, Manitoba for the 1967 Pan-American Games and managed by Winnipeg Enterprises. The facility was a banked short-track oval with a cement surface. The velodrome was located near the Winnipeg Arena and Winnipeg Stadium. Notable athletes to compete here include Jocelyn Lovell.The infield was large enough to accommodate a Canadian football-sized field, and indeed, the Velodrome was an important venue for high-school football in the city. It was planned as a facility that could relieve the larger Winnipeg Stadium from the duty of hosting amateur football, which was taking a serious toll on the grass field and making it unsuitable for professional play. Following the installation of artificial turf at Winnipeg Stadium in 1987, amateur teams resumed playing in the larger facility and football activity at the Velodrome declined sharply. Starting in 1994, the Velodrome was occasionally used as a practice facility by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League on days when the Winnipeg Goldeyes were using the Stadium. By the 1990s, the facility had become functionally obsolete for competitive cycling, and its use by cyclists had all but ceased. In light of the facility's deterioration, a decision was made to build a temporary velodrome for the 1999 Pan-American Games at the Red River Exhibition Park. The Winnipeg Velodrome was demolished in 1998 and the site is now occupied by retail stores. The temporary facility built to replace the Winnipeg Velodrome was itself disassembled and sold to a group in the Netherlands shortly after the 1999 Pan-American Games, leaving Manitoba without a velodrome facility.