March 28, 2024

Park board OK’s Hastings Park makeover

The Vancouver park board has unanimously approved the concept plans to a massive redo of Hastings Park. The site of the Pacific National Exhibition grounds will soon host soccer fields, play areas, a greenway for cyclists and pedestrians – even an artificial beach for volleyball. Park board commissioner Sarah Blythe says there's something for … [Read more...]

Racing to continue for at least two more years at Hastings

Horse racing will continue at Hastings Park in Vancouver for at least another two years. Great Canadian Gaming and the City of Vancouver have agreed to extend Hastings Racecourse’s operations agreement for two years. Great Canadian Gaming vice president Howard Blank says this allows the company and the city to work toward long-term operations … [Read more...]

Missing Hastings Park jockey

Friends of a well-known jockey at Vancouver's Hastings Hace Track say he has gone missing.They say 48-year-old Robert Skelly was last seen earlier this month at the track.A missing persons report was filed Thursday. "He packed up some belongings on the second, or early, early morning of the third, and just hasn't been seen since. The last that he … [Read more...]

Super Mario returns to Hastings Park

They call him "Super Mario..." Locally-trained jockey Mario Gutierrez has returned to Hastings Park. It's his first appearance on Canadian soil since his magical run at horse racing's Triple Crown. Gutierrez rode horse "I'll Have Another" to wins in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes , before injury forced the horse to retire before the … [Read more...]

Likely record crowd turns out at Hastings Park despite I’ll Have Another scratched

Despite his horse not racing in the Belmont, a huge crowd has turned out to Vancouver's Hastings racecourse to support locally trained jockey Mario Gutierrez. Track managers are expecting a record turnout out – as many as 13,000 people. A message of thanks from Gutierrez was read across the public address system before the race, and welcomed … [Read more...]

Hastings race track hopes to cash in on locally trained jockey’s success

Mario Gutierrez, the surprise winner of this year’s Kentucky Derby, brought 8,000 fans to their feet at the Hastings race track last weekend. They were watching on TV screens then, but on Sunday, they got to meet their local hero in the flesh. Raj Mutti, the track’s general manager, says it's good for business. "The Kentucky Derby is … [Read more...]

City officially looking at Hastings Park governance

The future governance of the Hastings park site is now being looked at by the City of Vancouver. Many in the area argue the site should be publically-maintained through the park board. But Vision Councillor Raymond Louie says there are several factors to consider, especially with several occupants to consider, such as the PNE and E-Comm. "It's not … [Read more...]

Editorial: Reed Hastings’ Netflix spinoff isn’t about DVD success, it’s about hedging the stream

If you've just casually glanced over the mass reactions to Reed Hastings' decision to split the DVD-by-mail business of Netflix into its own brand and company, you've probably been duped into thinking that it's the second questionable move that the world's most famed movie delivery service has made this year. But is it? Is a man who turned a red … [Read more...]

Should the Park Board or the PNE be running Hastings Park?

Who exactly should be running Hastings Park - the Vancouver Park Board or the PNE? That's a question NPA Councillor Suzanne Anton wants answered... "the PNE now runs the whole of the park and what the neighborhood wants is it wants a different kind of authority over the park probably under so that the Park Board itself would control the park areas … [Read more...]