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On Aug. 29, 1896, a day before his 15th birthday, Leo E. Welker surprised the crowd at a Colfax 14-mile bicycle race by overcoming a five-minute handicap to win easily. The African American youth and his mother, Alice Battles, had recently moved from the North Dakota frontier boomtown of Devils Lake to Colfax in the same year that 100 Black coal miners arrived there from Oskaloosa.
The first report of a Black bike racer in Iowa had appeared two years earlier in the Sept. 14, 1894, issue of the Iowa Bystander, the state s African American newspaper: Fred Wright of Marshalltown has gone to Eldora to enter bicycle races this week. In the next couple of years bike prices had dropped to the point that working-class people like Welker could afford one.
Hawke s Bay Racecourse hosts New Year s Day Races set to draw thousands
30 Dec, 2020 11:21 PM
2 minutes to read
The annual event is a tried and true family tradition for many. Photo / File
The annual New Year s Day Races at Hawke s Bay Racecourse is set to draw thousands of punters.
Hawke s Bay Racing CEO Darin Balcombe expects the event will attract its usual number of 5000 to 6000 guests.
Along with six races there will also be children s activities both on and off the track including a variety of races, bouncy castles and face painting.
There is also a $500 domestic travel voucher to be won with a heads and tails competition, various food options and all the racing excitement from around the country .
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For some people Boxing Day means the cricket or the sales, whereas for many it means all the fun of a family day races.
Today (Saturday December 26), the Ballina Jockey Club will be hosting their annual
Boxing Day Races under COVID-19 restrictions.
Ballina Jockey Club general manager, Matthew Bertram, said the six race card event is always a terrific day out.
“We have had a little bit of rain overnight and the recent rain event means everything looks lush and green,” he said.
“The track looks fantastic, it has a soft rating so will race beautifully.