This horseracing track and grandstand on Portage Avenue on the west side of Winnipeg was established in 1958. Businessman Robert James “Jim” Speers had wanted to build a facility that had more space than was available at his original Polo Park racetrack. He agreed to sell the Polo Park land for development of a shopping mall on the condition that it remain in use for racing for two seasons, 1955 and 1956, while he searched for a new site.
Speers never saw his plans come to fruition. He died suddenly, of a heart attack, in July 1955. The task of finalizing plans for the development of Assiniboia Downs fell to his daughter Anna Meldred Speers.
Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.89192, W97.32561
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Polo Park Racetrack / Polo Park Shopping Centre (1485 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg)
Memorable Manitobans: Robert James “Jim” Speers (1882-1955)
Memorable Manitobans: Anna Meldred Speers (1908-1996)
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 22 October 2023
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