Horse Racing

Horse Racing

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Assiniboia Downs CEO Darren Dunn, with Ez Tree Ates, said the track has added exciting new promotions.

Downs sticking with what works

George Williams 5 minute read Friday, May. 8, 2026

They’re at the post! They’re off!

Assiniboia Downs is set to kick off its 69th season of live racing on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., following a record-setting season last year. The horsemen are champing at the bit to send their charges out of the gate carrying your $2 punt all the way to the winner’s circle.

The race meet runs from May 12 through Oct. 7, with racing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and select Mondays through the summer and into September. Post time is 7:30 p.m. The pinnacle of the live meeting, the $125,000 Manitoba Derby, takes place on Aug. 3.

Over 500 horses are on the grounds, more than usual to start the season. Five-time leading trainer Jerry Gourneau heads a strong contingent of large stables ready to make it all happen. Gourneau has over 40 horses and more on the way for his major owner, former champion race car driver Henry S. Witt, Jr., of Texas. Last year’s leading trainer, Steve Keplin, Jr., is also back, and he’ll have about a dozen horses to start the 2026 meeting.

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Horse Racing

Jason Halstead / Assiniboia Photo HBPA 2026 Racehorse Groom Training Program graduates (from left): Chanbin Lee, Kyunga Lee, Ediwa Mansour, Jocelyn Kotchon, Wren Dunham, Kseniia Lytvynenko, Latanya Segismundo, Carl Bernd, Johannah Minty, Olivia Grehan, Kaelen Wiles and Eliza McIntyre at Assiniboia Downs.

Provincial program at the Downs attracts horse lovers from around the world

GEORGE WILLIAMS 6 minute read Preview

Provincial program at the Downs attracts horse lovers from around the world

GEORGE WILLIAMS 6 minute read Friday, May. 1, 2026

The next crop of Kentucky Derby hopefuls has graduated from the HBPA 2026 Racehorse Groom Training Program at Assiniboia Downs, just in time for the beginning of live racing here on May 12, and today’s big race.

And why couldn’t one of them end up in the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle one day? Assiniboia Downs has had a connection to the Kentucky Derby in four of the last five years, including this one.

In 2025, Sovereignty won the Derby for trainer Bill Mott, who spent two years as a teenager in St. Laurent, riding horses and looking after cattle. In 2024, Derby winner Mystik Dan was sired by Goldencents, who is out of a Manitoba-bred named Golden Works bred by Phil Kives, and in 2022, 80-1 Rich Strike made his Manitoba-bred mom Gold Strike proud by winning the Run for the Roses.

This year, jockey Edwin Maldonado, who won his first career race at Assiniboia Downs in 2002 as Edwin Alicea, is riding 30-1 longshot Pavlovian in the big race for two-time Derby-winning trainer Doug O’Neill.

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Friday, May. 1, 2026

Horse Racing

JASON HALSTEAD PHOTO / ASSINIBOIA DOWNS 2025 Assiniboia Downs Champions. From left: Chief Murray Clearsky, ASD leading trainer Steve Keplin, Jr., ASD leading jockey Damario Bynoe and ASD CEO Darren Dunn.

Assiniboia Downs bettors put their money where their mount is

George Williams 6 minute read Preview

Assiniboia Downs bettors put their money where their mount is

George Williams 6 minute read Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

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.

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Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

Horse Racing

Jason Halstead / Assiniboia Photo Owner Gary Danelson (left), jockey Antonio Whitehall (centre) and owner Bonnie McCrory celebrate in the winner’s circle after winning the Winnipeg Futurity with Omaha Warrior.

Kindness the key to Danelson’s decades of Assiniboia Downs success

George Williams 7 minute read Preview

Kindness the key to Danelson’s decades of Assiniboia Downs success

George Williams 7 minute read Friday, Oct. 3, 2025

We thought last year was trainer Gary Danelson’s swan song at Assiniboia Downs. We were wrong.

The 88-year-old all-time leading trainer at Assiniboia Downs was in the winner’s circle Tuesday night as an owner after winning the 96th running of the $50,000 Winnipeg Futurity with Omaha Warrior, trained by Jared Brown.

“It felt pretty good,” said Danelson. “I’d never won the Futurity. And I’ve never won the Manitoba Derby.”

Danelson left training last year when his grey speedball Kate’s Princess bumped him into the wall of her stall and broke his hip. That and facing two forms of cancer, one in remission, ended his training days, but he couldn’t stay away from his home away from home. He was back this year with a horse Brown purchased for him in the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale for $20,000.

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Friday, Oct. 3, 2025

Horse Racing

Jason Halstead / Assiniboia Photo Longshot Little Eddie wins the sixth race Wednesday night with Sven Balroop in the saddle.

Trainer puts his money where his horses are — and a couple of longshots

George Williams 5 minute read Preview

Trainer puts his money where his horses are — and a couple of longshots

George Williams 5 minute read Friday, Sep. 26, 2025

If you bet $56 to win $4,502, what were the odds on your wager? Mike Pierce knows.

The 70-year-old trainer from Nebraska bet both his horses to the board in a $1 Pick 4 on Wednesday night at Assiniboia Downs and got an 80-1 return on his investment.

Where else can you do that in an hour?

The Pick 4 is a $1 minimum bet that requires you to pick the winners of four consecutive races on one ticket. The wager offers a guaranteed pool of $50,000 every race night, and it has been a huge hit at the Downs this year, with pools averaging over $100,000.

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Friday, Sep. 26, 2025

Horse Racing

DANIELLE LANGLOIS PHOTO / ASSINIBOIA DOWNS Burrow Down won the Manitoba Matron for a third straight year Tuesday at the Assiniboia Downs, while jockey Damario Bynoe scored a hat trick on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

The ‘Queen,’ ‘Kings’ and ‘Prince’ rule the Downs

George Williams 5 minute read Preview

The ‘Queen,’ ‘Kings’ and ‘Prince’ rule the Downs

George Williams 5 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

The “Queen” is back, the “Kings” aren’t far behind, and the “Prince” is running away with the Gold.

The “Queen,” Burrow Down found her best form again in the $50,000 Manitoba Matron on Tuesday night at the Assiniboia Downs. Three races later, the “Kings” — five-time leading trainer Jerry Gourneau and seven-time leading owner Henry S. Witt Jr. — won the $50,000 Gold Cup. And for the first time in at least 40 years — if ever — jockey Damario Bynoe, the “Prince,” racked up a rare triple-triple, scoring hat tricks on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday that included a long, determined rally aboard the “Queen” to win the Matron.

Burrow Down earned her royalty status locally from a record of 11-1-2 in 16 starts, all stakes, and the six-year-old mare has now won the Manitoba Matron for the third consecutive year. In her four starts this year for trainer Mike Taphorn, she’d finished second in the La Verendrye Stakes, won the Canada Stakes, finished third in the Escape Clause Stakes, and run an uncharacteristically dull fourth in the Miss Imperial Overnight Stakes in her start previous to the Matron.

“We didn’t do anything different with her for the Matron,” said Taphorn, who conditions the horse for owner Gerald Babchishin. “ The only thing we did was make a rider switch.”

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

Horse Racing

Jason Halstead / Assiniboia Photo Groom Kenroy “Cuba” Rowe and jockey Antonio Whitehall with Mechanic Susie after their win in the Distaff Stakes.

Susie does her duty at Downs

George Williams 5 minute read Preview

Susie does her duty at Downs

George Williams 5 minute read Friday, Sep. 12, 2025

Manitoba-bred stars highlighted two of the three stakes this week at Assiniboia Downs, and a bargain invader from south of the border took the other.

The winners of all three stakes were so good it’s difficult to decide who to mention first, so we’ll go with ladies first.

Mechanic Susie won the $40,000 Distaff Stakes on Tuesday for trainer Elton Dickey, his ownership partners Tom Payne and breeder Larry Falloon, and groom Kenroy (Cuba) Rowe, and she was doing it for the second year in a row.

Last year, the five-year-old Manitoba-bred mare by Nonios out of Quantum Mechanics by Einstein won six races in a row, including the Distaff, on her way to being named champion older mare. Ahe looks like she’s going to do similar this year.

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Friday, Sep. 12, 2025

Horse Racing

George Williams / Free Press Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, right, with Chief Murray Clearsky of Waywayseecappo First Nation.

It’s been quite the ride for horse-loving Waywayseecappo chief

George Williams 6 minute read Preview

It’s been quite the ride for horse-loving Waywayseecappo chief

George Williams 6 minute read Friday, Sep. 5, 2025

Six decades ago Murray Clearsky ran away from a residential school in Brandon, not knowing where his life would take him.

On Thursday night at Assiniboia Downs, he was honoured by Indigenous leaders from across the country for his lifetime of accomplishments, including the past 40 years as chief of Waywayseecappo First Nation.

It’s been quite a ride, and always connected to horses.

Indigenous leaders and dignitaries at the ceremony included Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, Peguis First Nation Chief Dr. Stan Bird, Southern Chiefs Organization Grand Chief Jerry Daniels, AFN Regional Chief Willie Moore, Brokenhead Ojibway First Nation Chief Gordon Bluesky, Lake Manitoba First Nation Chief Cornell McLean, and Allen Sutherland, elder and knowledge keeper, who delivered the opening prayer.

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Friday, Sep. 5, 2025

Horse Racing

Jason Halstead /ASSINIBOIA DOWNS Trainer Jerry Gourneau had six wins this week at Assiniboia Downs, including two overnight stakes.

Gourneau gunning for next title

George Williams 4 minute read Preview

Gourneau gunning for next title

George Williams 4 minute read Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

Five-time leading ASD trainer Jerry Gourneau rocketed up in the standings this week with six wins, including two overnight stakes, and he’s showing no signs of stopping with a four-person crew and 20 horses to back him up.

Gourneau returned to the fray from Texas in June and quickly won with Fast Traffic on June 23. And despite being late to the local party this year, he might actually have a shot of catching current leading trainer Steve Keplin Jr. to win his sixth title.

Keplin currently has 32 wins while Gourneau has 20, but six-win weeks can close that gap in a hurry. Much of Gourneau’s younger help returned to school this week, but his two assistant trainers, Jennifer Tourangeau and Madison Tirk, along with groom/owner Manny Medeiros, still managed to get the winner’s circle in a big way.

Two of Gourneau’s six wins came in overnight stakes on Tuesday. He won the Miss Imperial Overnight Stakes for fillies and mares with Baby Gundin ($13.60) and followed that up in the next race with a victory in the Already Dia Overnight Stakes with Malibu S S ($7.20).

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Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

Horse Racing

George Williams photo Breeder Cam Ziprick with Hip #32 for Sunday’s Manitoba Yearling Sale, a bay gelding by Speculating out of multiple champion mare and Manitoba Horse of the Year Hidden Grace.

A yearling sale like no other

George Williams 5 minute read Preview

A yearling sale like no other

George Williams 5 minute read Friday, Aug. 22, 2025

The big money will be looking at one horse in particular in the annual Manitoba’s CTHS Yearling Sale this Sunday at Assiniboia Downs, but there could be a diamond in the rough anywhere in this sale, which is packed with quality and more horses than usual this year.

Hip #32, a bay gelding by Speculating out of multiple Manitoba champion and Horse of the Year Hidden Grace, consigned by Ziprick Thoroughbreds, is expected to be the sales topper on Sunday, but you never know what can happen once the action starts.

The sale takes place in a different location this year, at the new CTHS Sale Pavilion in the Assiniboia Downs backstretch, and the first yearling goes through the ring at 2:30 p.m. Viewing of the yearlings began at noon Friday and there will be numerous others who attract attention.

“We’ve got 41 hips in the sale, 13 more than last year,” said CTHS Director Wayne King, who serves as chair of the yearling sale. The increase in the number of yearlings offered is directly tied to an innovative breeding incentive program created in partnership with the Manitoba Jockey Club. “This is the first crop that would have been subscribed to that program,” said King.

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Friday, Aug. 22, 2025

Horse Racing

Jason Halstead / Assiniboia Photo Designated Hitter and jockey Javaniel Patterson (inside) hold off Totalizer and jockey Rachaad Knights to win the third race Wednesday at ASD.

Patterson turning heads at the Downs

George Williams 5 minute read Preview

Patterson turning heads at the Downs

George Williams 5 minute read Friday, Aug. 15, 2025

If there’s one way to make money at the track, it’s spotting a hot, talented jockey before anyone else does. We just found one.

Javaniel Patterson returned from a shoulder injury on Aug. 5 and promptly won with his first mount back, Captive Kitten, who paid $32.60 for trainer Victoria Morse on the final race on the card. The $1 Pick 4 paid $22,913.95. Why? Partially because most bettors don’t play jockeys they don’t know or see in the standings.

The 32-year-old Patterson arrived here from Jamaica last year and won 13 races, not quite enough to crack the top 10 in the jockey standings. He returned early this year but suffered a broken shoulder in a training injury and couldn’t get cleared to ride again until Aug. 5, which just happened to be the same day leading rider Prayven Badrie was knocked out for the season with a hip injury.

Before Patterson rode Captive Kitten through a free-square hole on the rail to win, there were already whispers in the backstretch to the effect that “this kid can ride.” Those whispers gained more traction when Patterson won with three of his next 12 mounts, but his performance on one particular winner caused expert race watchers to pay attention.

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Friday, Aug. 15, 2025

Horse Racing

Jason Halstead / Assiniboia Photo N’Rico Prescod (left) rode Attack to victory in a very eventful Manitoba Derby on Monday at Assiniboia Downs.

A week to remember at the Downs

George Williams 5 minute read Preview

A week to remember at the Downs

George Williams 5 minute read Friday, Aug. 8, 2025

Whew! What a week at the Downs!

On Monday, there was the disqualification of unofficial winner Take Charge Tom in the Manitoba Derby. On Tuesday, three-year-old filly Welcometohollywood recorded the largest winning margin in North America for the day. On Wednesday, the same horse that capped off a $6,237.70 Pick 4 in 2024, Captive Kitten, did it again, this time to the tune $22,913.95, and he did it on Girls Night Out to a backdrop of fancy hats, classy outfits and winning smiles.

It was the exact opposite of smiles in the camp of trainer Robertino Diodoro after the 77th running of the Manitoba Derby however, when his horse, heavy favourite Take Charge Tom, became the first competitor in the history of the race to be disqualified from the win spot, but the official Stewards really had no choice.

Before the horses had even gone a quarter mile in the 1 1/8-mile race the “inquiry” sign was posted on the board, meaning something in the early running of the race needed a closer look by the Stewards. Immediately after the race, jockey Brian Boodramsingh aboard No. 1 Border Song lodged a claim of foul against the riders of No. 3 Mr. Jaws and No. 4 Attack.

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Friday, Aug. 8, 2025

Horse Racing

JASON HALSTEAD / ASSINIBOIA PHOTO Rasheed Hughes rides Manitoba Derby favourite Take Charge Tom (3) to victory in the 31st running of the Derby Trial Stakes.

Take Tom Charge the horse to beat

George Williams 5 minute read Preview

Take Tom Charge the horse to beat

George Williams 5 minute read Friday, Aug. 1, 2025

The 77th running of the $125,000 Manitoba Derby highlights the biggest race night of the year on Monday, Aug. 4 at Assiniboia Downs. If current live crowds are any indication, this will be a grand night for horse hawks and people watchers.

The fans have been coming out in droves in July and the parking lot looks like a throwback to the ’70s, or the ’60s. If you were one of the kids running around picking up tickets off the tarmac in those decades, you’ll know what we’re talking about. I know I was.

The crowds have been loud too, but nothing like they’ll be on Monday night when the races kick off at 7:30 p.m. for a stellar card of seven races, bolstered by three stakes featuring the best horses on the grounds.

The $50,000 Escape Clause Stakes for fillies and mares goes as the fourth race and is led by star filly Burrow Down, the reigning queen of the female set, who is 10-for-13 at the Downs. The $50,000 Harvey Warner Manitoba Mile goes as the wide-open fifth race with 10 rivals trying to beat favourite Judo, who has won five in a row for leading trainer Steve Keplin, Jr.

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Friday, Aug. 1, 2025

Horse Racing

Jason Halstead / Assiniboia Photo Mike Nault’s assistant trainer/groom Brittany Bergen had a reason to smile after winning the R.C. Anderson Stakes with Twolefttoload.

Twolefttoload turns heads with R.C. Anderson Stakes triumph

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Twolefttoload turns heads with R.C. Anderson Stakes triumph

George Williams 6 minute read Friday, Jul. 25, 2025

Like a runaway freight train, there was no stopping Twolefttoload once she got rolling in the $40,000 R.C. Anderson Stakes on Tuesday night at Assiniboia Downs. At least not until she hit the wire.

After that, she coasted to a stop, turned, and trotted proudly back to the winner’s circle to meet her injured but beaming groom Brittany Bergen and trainer Mike Nault.

“I was leading our other filly in the race, frankly, to the paddock, and I tripped and she stepped on me with her hind foot,” said Bergen, pointing out a bruise on her lower calf that looked like a hammer hit. “She just stepped on me and stood there. But Twolefttoload won, so I didn’t feel a thing after that.”

Bergen was glowing as Twolefttoload strutted into the winner’s circle like she owned the place. “She’s goofy, she’s quirky, and she’s always on edge around the barn,” said Bergen. “But in the paddock and the race, she puts her game face on. She knows when it’s time to go to work.”

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Friday, Jul. 25, 2025

Horse Racing

GEORGE WILLIAMS The 50-1 Crew (from left): trainer Bill Mooney, jockey Dario Dalrymple and trainer Curtis Maxwell.

Biggest upset brings huge payoff at Assiniboia Downs

George Williams 5 minute read Preview

Biggest upset brings huge payoff at Assiniboia Downs

George Williams 5 minute read Friday, Jul. 18, 2025

Trainer Bill Mooney did his impression of the movie “50 to 1” on Wednesday night at Assiniboia Downs, bum leg included, blowing up the tote board with a $104.10 winner that also led to a massive $1 Pick 4 payoff of $27,239.05.

And he knew she was going to win.

The 75-year-old trainer from Montana teamed up with jockey Dario Dalrymple and fellow trainer Curtis Maxwell to pull off the biggest upset of the meeting in the fifth race on Wednesday evening with the 6-year-old mare Ropers N Wranglers. Everyone in the barn bet on her — except Maxwell, who got distracted at the grandstand and forgot to.

“I was talking to someone, I looked up and they were already in the gate,” said Maxwell, who was paddocking the horse for Mooney partly because Mooney had injured his leg in a stall when a horse ran into him. “The race started and it was too late.”

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Friday, Jul. 18, 2025

Horse Racing

George Williams / Free Press Groom Kayla Matyas has a special bond with ‘princess’ Nikkitysplit, winner of Tuesday’s Hazel Wright Sire Stakes.

Success a family affair in more ways than one at Assiniboia Downs

George Williams 5 minute read Preview

Success a family affair in more ways than one at Assiniboia Downs

George Williams 5 minute read Friday, Jul. 11, 2025

Nikkitysplit won the 18th running of the $40,000 Hazel Wright Sire Stakes on Tuesday, and she wasn’t the only example — horse or human — that showed what the right genetics, a good upbringing and a loving environment can do at the track this week.

The three-year-old filly gave Ziprick Thoroughbreds’ sire Speculating his first stakes winner in the Hazel Wright, and also helped them to a clean sweep of the first three spots in the Hazel Wright in the breeding department. Second-place finisher Twoleftoload was also sired by Speculating, and third-place finisher Amplify is by the Ziprick Thoroughbreds stallion Kentucky Bear.

Ziprick Thoroughbreds has been the dominant breeder in Manitoba for well over a decade, so the positive environment and good upbringing were a given. From a pedigree perspective, Speculating has all the credentials to be a top sire, being by Medaglia d’Oro, whose 184 stakes winners have earned over $209 million.

Bred by longtime Manitoba owner-breeders Jerry Lambert and Lynn Mathews, Nikkitysplit is out of their mare Spiteofsuccess, which makes her a half-sister to the stakes-placed runner J L Copper, and the stakes winners in the family extend back through three generations.

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Friday, Jul. 11, 2025

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