Marquis Downs
Marquis Downs LogoThe track opened in 1969, as the replacement for the Saskatoon half miler. Marquis Downs featured a five eights mile oval, with a glass enclosed grandstand that sat 3,500. The track could house 450 horses in the backstretch.
First Day T-BredsThe new Saskatoon oval started out with twelve days of harness racing, before the thoroughbreds showed up. Thoroughbreds, were featured but quite a few harness meets ran during it's existence. In 2020, the race meet was cancelled due to COVID, again in 2021, citing health concerns racing was cancelled again. A short time later management said Marquis Downs would close permanently and converted to a sports complex. This would leave Saskatchewan without a live racing facility for the first time in many years.
In a surprising turn of events The Moosamin First Nation Tribe decided they wanted to get into the horse racing game. They were granted permission to build a new track outside Saskatoon. The track wouldn't be ready till 2023, so they asked and got permission to run their 2022 meet a Marquis Downs, giving the defunct track one last hurrah. So some fifty years after it replaced another track, it was it's turn to be replaced.
In 2001, jockey Tim Moccasin, rode fourteen straight winners at Marquis Downs, believed to be a world record. The only thing that stopped his streak was that the meet ended.