Long shots make things fun at Downs

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This article was published 03/06/2017 (3273 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There were a few good long shots at the track feeling pretty good about themselves last weekend, and we’re not just talking horses. 

The long shot that escaped pretty much everybody was Golds Venice in the seventh race last Friday at Assiniboia Downs. Trained by Curtis Maxwell, whose three-horse stable is more famous for fish fries and whiskies than it is for winning races, Golds Venice went by second choice Shiloh’s Phil in the stretch like she was tied to a post, and drew off to win by as much as she pleased at 18-1, giving new apprentice jockey, Dario Dalrymple, his first winner on his first mount.

It wasn’t like Shiloh’s Phil didn’t run a strong race for trainer Doug Mustard; she just got bamboozled by a live long shot with back class. Golds Venice was at the same odds on Friday as she was two years ago, when she finished sixth in a maiden special-weight race at Del Mar, with Hall-of-Fame jockey Victor Espinoza in the saddle.

Purchased by Maxwell last year from trainer Robertson Diodoro and given the winter off, the snow and sunshine of Manitoba soothed her legs and brought her mind back to life for her new owners, Club 3D stable, whose members include Dave Juby, Keith Dangerfield and Maxwell.

“I never bet her,” the 57-year-old Maxwell said. “Why would I? I don’t win that many races. I probably would have just jinxed her.”

Maxwell grew up on a dairy farm on King Edward Street and always had ponies around, while his dad, Russell, had the racehorses. He gravitated to the track as an adult and worked both as an exercise rider on the gate crew, before getting his trainer’s licence in 2003. He’s always trained a small stable and long shots make it all the more satisfying. 

Dalrymple was probably as shocked by his big winner as everyone in the grandstand, and he picked up the ride only by accident, after two other riders bailed on the opportunity and timely phone call was made to his agent. The 26-year-old from Barbados went to jockey school in his home country at the age of 13 and won 43 races on the islands before venturing to Canada this year.

“It’s very nice,” said Dalrymple. “I love it here.” Even more after he went 2-for-2 on the weekend.

Dalrymple also won on Saturday aboard maiden filly Lindiesel, for trainer Shaun Morin and his partner Dave Farrell.

The underrated Morin campaigns a six-horse stable an is always a force to be reckoned with when he runs one. Morin comes by his skills naturally, being the son of Clifford Morin, for many years the superintendent in charge of the RCMP Musical Ride.

‘I never bet her. Why would I? I don’t win that many races. I probably would have just jinxed her’– Owner-trainer Curtis Maxwell

There were a few more long shots that did some good on the weekend — one horse and two people.

Owner-trainer Dennis Dorchester saddled the aptly named Real Heart to win the final race on Monday, at $19.40 on the board. The classy nine-year-old son of Devil His Due won his 20th race for his 75-year-old trainer and improved his  lifetime record to 20-18-9 from 76 starts. Another underrated trainer with a long shot, Dorchester has spent mosts of his life with horses, but that’s another story — as is Morin’s.

Renaldo Cumberbatch was in the saddle for Dorchester when he won with Real Heart. Cumberbatch has quietly complied a record of 299-310-355 over the years here for purse earnings of $2,532,435, and he currently leads all riders with five wins. Despite the fact he’s ridden many top horses here, he doesn’t make or seek the spotlight,

Mustard probably summed it up best for his four-horse stable and the other underdog overachievers: “Most people know, the only time they ever get their name in the paper is in the obituaries.”

The group above just beat the odds.