Plenty of good money to be made at Manitoba Derby

The 78^th running of the $125,000 Manitoba Derby is nearly upon us, and the house will be packed on Monday evening at Assiniboia Downs for the biggest race of the year. And it’s not just the Derby people are coming for.

Monday’s racing card features a mandatory payout on the ASD 20-cent Jackpot Pick 5, which currently has a carryover of $476,656 that could swell to $2 million by post time.

Nine of the best three-year-olds in Canada have been entered for Manitoba’s signature race, and we have to agree with what track announcer Kirt Contois said at the Derby press conference on Friday: “This is one of the strongest fields ever assembled for our local Derby.”

Almost long gone are the days when you could buy or claim a potential Derby horse for $20,000 and win. It can happen, but a number of horses in this year’s Derby are coming out of races where you’d have to pay at least $100,000 to buy the winner. And even that wouldn’t guarantee success.

But there are at least two bargain horses in the year’s race.

Complete Overhaul (30-1) was claimed for $12,500 at Oaklawn Park this spring, and he will be the longest shot on the board. Trained by Maria Standford for TP Racing, he does have a solid pedigree that includes two American Triple Crown winners, but may lack the seasoning of some of his rivals.

The other entrant who could turn out to be a bargain is Really Ralis (8-1), who was purchased for just$5,000 by trainer Cindy Krasner and owner Dennis Spence. Really Ralis has won two of his three lifetime starts and appears to be improving rapidly, as marked by his win in the $50,000 Derby Trial two weeks ago. Whether he will improve enough to win is a good question, but at juicy morning-line odds, he’ll be the pick of many.

The morning line favourite is Western Warrior (2-1). Trained by Alberta-based trainer Dino Condilenios, Western Warrior has been running in rich races at Oaklawn Park and Churchill Downs, and he went on a three-race winning streak from Jan. 2 to March 26 before running into some monsters in the $200,000 Bath House Row Stakes at Oaklawn and a $125,000 allowance race at Churchill.

Western Warrior hasn’t run since May 31, but he started his winning streak off an even longer layoff, and his trainer is no stranger to good horses, having conditioned horses like Lord Nelson, who earned US$656,000 during his career that included multiple wins in the Lieutenant Governor’s Handicap (G3) at Hastings Park.

The second choice on the morning-line is Gethsemane (7/2) for sharp local trainer Monique Goulet. He ships in from Saratoga in New York after finishing fourth under elite rider Irad Ortiz, Jr., in a $75,000 optional claiming race. Claimed twice during his career for $50,000 and $80,000, he obviously has some serious talent.

The third choice on the morning-line is Forty Twenty (4-1), trained by four-time Manitoba Derby-winning trainer Robertino Didoro for owner Randy Howg, who won the Derby here in 2016 with Inside Straight. Forty Twenty comes into the race off a smoking 10 2/4-length win in a $35,000 allowance race in Texas that resulted in a 92 Beyer Speed Figure, the best in the field.

Also big on numbers is Direct Strike (6-1), who recorded an 89 Beyer Speed Figure two starts ago at Churchill Downs going the Derby distance of 1 1/8-miles. He’s trained by top Alberta trainer Craig Smith, who won the Derby last year with Attack. Then there’s Prime Suspect (15-1), conditioned by last year’s leading ASD trainer Steve Keplin, Jr., who is winning at an incredible 45 per cent clip this season. Prime Suspect exploded onto the scene here early in the year with two big wins, one of which resulted in an 87 Beyer Speed Figure. He’ll be looking for that number in the Derby.

Rounding out the field are Elston Gunnn (12-1) and Quarry (20-1).

Elston Gunn won the $50,000 Golden Boy Stakes here for trainers Tena Birdwell and Eugene Burns and owner Joseph Schumer, who has been shipping horses regularly to ASD from the U.S. this year and winning. Elston Gunn also has some hidden class, having won a $110,000 Maiden Special Weight race over 11 rivals on turf in his just his second lifetime start.

Quarry (20-1) won a $92,000 Maiden Special Weight race in the slop going a mile at Churchill Downs in May and has finished in the money in allowance races numerous times at Keeneland, Gulfstream Park, Tampa Bay Downs and Canterbury. Quarry always gives his best, and is conditioned by Mark Simms, Jr., for eight-time ASD leading owner Henry S. Witt, Jr.. He is residing in the barn of five-time leading ASD trainer Jerry Gourneau, who teamed up with Witt to win the Manitoba Derby in 2023 with longshot Mano Dura in 2023.

This year’s rendition of the Manitoba Derby appears to be wide open, as do a number of races in the Jackpot Pick 5 sequence, which also includes the $50,000 Harvey Warner Manitoba Mile as the fifth race. The $50,000 Escape Clause Stakes goes as the second race on a stellar card, which is expected to attract the largest crowd of the year for promotions, people watching and taking a shot at the multimillion dollar Jackpot Pick 5 pool.

For 20 cents.