Assiniboia Downs bettors put their money where their mount is

You could tell Assiniboia Downs was having a great season by the size of the wagering pools and the constantly growing crowds, but we certainly didn’t expect them to shatter their previous wagering record by a whopping $12 million.

Fans wagered an unprecedented total of $75.2 million on the live racing this season, which ended Wednesday, bettering the previous mark of $63.2 million set in 2020. Average wagering per card was $1.5 million, and wagering was up 21.16 per cent over the previous season.

One of the major reasons for the increase in wagering was the track’s strategic move over the past few years to reduce all takeouts on wagers to below 20 per cent, something that is very rare at North American tracks for obvious reasons, but it results in higher payoffs and puts more money back in the pockets of bettors.

The reduced takeout was a long-term play, and it absolutely worked. Kudos to Assiniboia Downs CEO Darren Dunn, VP of Finance and Gaming Sharon Gulyas and their management team for thinking well ahead of the curve. All the staff deserve a pat on the back this year for their excellent customer service, both on the betting side and in the food and beverage area. The nightly prime rib buffet was almost always sold out, and the newly minted Girls Night Out on Wednesday evenings turned out to be a huge hit among the ladies, with fancy hats and outfits everywhere.

Curling Canada looks to turn Olympic buzz into new brooms on the ice

The largest audience for curling happens every four years, but in a window when Canadian clubs are four to five weeks from closing for the season.

Curling Canada is urging clubs across the country to capitalize on the Olympic bump with a "Grow The Game" campaign.

The organization hopes that the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy, which run Feb. 6-23, will get more people wanting to try the sport at that time.

Hosting Olympic curling watch parties or open houses, or learn to curl sessions, while people are feeling the buzz of watching the sport at its highest level, are some suggested options.

Southdale high schoolers thrilled to have hockey program back

Southdale hockey fans have won the chance to cheer and play for “Broncos 2.0,” the revival of a high school team that was disbanded last year due to coaching challenges and players’ aggressive outbursts.

Manitoba bowlers eager to strike gold on world stage

Already making history earlier this year when she became the first woman to win the Marinelli City Singles bowling tournament, Marissa Naylor-McCall is now bolstering her training routine as she prepares to represent Team Canada at the 2025 International Bowling Federation World Championships.

Interest in women’s sports is growing. Here’s how some women-owned companies are responding

Laura Youngson didn't expect to focus so much on soccer cleats when she organized a group of women to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and play a high-altitude match.

The point of the 2017 game was to highlight inequality in sports for women and girls. On that front, Youngson achieved her goal with the match becoming the subject of a documentary and landing the group in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Still, something bothered Youngson as the match unfolded. Glancing at the athletes' feet, she was struck that all the women were wearing men's or boy's soccer cleats instead of gear that was designed specifically for them. The realization led her to launch IDA Sports, which makes soccer cleats for the unique athletic needs of women.

“There was this real commercial gap for performance footwear for women,” said Youngson, whose IDA cleats are worn by players including Washington Spirit midfielder Courtney Brown. "As the game is growing, we’re in this moment when everything’s professionalizing, but the footwear wasn’t really keeping pace, so I wanted to go and change that.”