Manitoba Derby won’t B Minor event

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This article was published 04/08/2023 (1134 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The stage is set for the historic 75th running of the $125,000 Manitoba Derby on Monday, August 7, at Assiniboia Downs, and once again elite North American trainer Robertino Diodoro will be at the centre of it.

And it’s not just about the money, although there will be tons of that surging through the wires and wickets on Monday as fans attempt to grab a share of the mandatory Jackpot Pick 5 payout, which currently has a carryover of $597,143 that could grow to $2 million. There will also be a $100,000 guaranteed Pick 4 pool and two more stakes, the $50,000 Harvey Warner Manitoba Mile and the $50,000 Escape Clause Stakes.

Additionally, the winner of the Manitoba Derby will have a shot at winning a $100,000 bonus available to any horse that can sweep the new $550,000 Western Canadian Triple Crown, which includes the Manitoba Derby, the $200,000 Canadian Derby (G3) at Century Mile in Alberta on Saturday, August 26, and the $125,000 B.C. Derby (G3) at Hastings Racecourse in B.C. on Saturday, September 16.

“This year’s Manitoba Derby is set to be a highly competitive race featuring a diverse field of 10 horses and it offers a great start to the Western Canadian Triple Crown,” said Assiniboia Downs CEO Darren Dunn. “We now have the highest ASD Jackpot Pick 5 in the track’s history to add to the excitement. The atmosphere at the Downs will be electrifying, and we can’t wait!”

Diodoro has won the Manitoba Derby a record four times, and set another rare mark in the race last year when he finished 1-2-3. He has also won the Canadian Derby and B. C. Derby before. In 2018, before the Western Canadian Triple Crown existed, he saddled Sky Promise to win all three derbies in the amazingly short span of 33 days.

This year Diodoro will saddle both the first and second morning-line favourites in Manitoba’s most prestigious race, which has attracted a field of top 3-year-olds from the US and Canada.

Both of Diodoro’s contenders, favourite Heroic Move (1-1), and second choice B Minor (4-1), are owned by a partnership from Alberta that includes Arnold Bennewith, Rick Wiest, Clayton Wiest, Lana Wiest, Randy Howg, R6 Stables, Gary Kropp and Norman Tremblay, the same ownership group that finished second in the Manitoba Derby last year with Great Escape, who went on to win the Canadian Derby.

Heroic Move comes into the race off a sharp third-place finish beaten half a length in the $250,000 Iowa Derby. B Minor has been running competitively in $100,000 allowance races in Kentucky. The eight rivals they’ll be facing in the Manitoba Derby include two from the powerful owner-trainer team of four-time leading Assiniboia Downs trainer Jerry Gourneau and five-time leading owner Henry S. Witt, Jr. Their Mano Dura (12-1) is a tough allowance horse from Texas who recently won his first start at Assiniboia Downs, and their longshot, Discovery Peak (40-1), was a $360,000 yearling.

Also in the lineup are Tshiebwe (6-1), who recently won a $100,000 maiden claiming race in Kentucky for leading Alberta trainer Craig Robert Smith; Derby Trial winner Saxon Saga (10-1) from the hot barn of trainer Wendy Anderson; Golden Boy Stakes winner Chicago’s Gray (20-1), from 2017 Derby-winning trainer Murray Duncan’s barn; fast-working Churchill Downs shipper Neighbor (15-1) for trainer Robert Kingston, who won the Alberta Derby at 40-1 with Fly Esteem in 2004; Derby Trial third-place finisher Rough Customer (50-1) for trainer Rod Heggie, who has won almost 300 races; and Derby Trial runner-up Green Amazon (40-1) for multiple stakes-winning trainer Steve Gaskin.

“We’re pretty excited,” said Diodoro, speaking from his barn at Saratoga Race Course in New York, where he currently has 27 horses. “Both horses are doing very well. B Minor, has been up there for a little bit. We sent him up early, as he’s not the greatest shipper. Ricky (trainer Rick Wise) and Tiffany (trainer Tiffany Husbands) have been helping out with him, and he’s been doing great.

“His last work was very solid. He’s a fairly fresh horse, and that’s actually what I like about both of our entrants this year. They’re fairly fresh horses. Hopefully we’ll get some racing luck Monday night. I think we’ve got two exceptionally good jockeys, Rico Walcott and Jorge Carreno, that we’ve had a lot of success with. We’ve got all the confidence in the world in those two guys, so that always means a lot too.”

Does he have a shot at winning the Western Canadian Triple Crown if he can win the Manitoba Derby?

“Oh definitely,” said Diodoro. “But again, with these horses, you take it one day at a time and one step at a time. We’re just trying to stay focused on Monday night and like I said, we need some racing luck.”

Diodoro, who currently sits eighth among all North American trainers with 112 wins and over $4 million in purse earnings, has always been a strong supporter of the track here.

“I can’t say enough good about Assiniboia Downs,” said Diodoro. “They do a heck of a job. Even watching the post position draw yesterday. Very impressive the way it was put together. Honestly, it’s very complimenting to all you guys up there. A lot of people have been talking about Assiniboia Downs, and the Manitoba Derby, down here. I mentioned that a little bit last year, but it’s even more this year.

“Their PR work with Twitter and Facebook, their night racing, articles in the DRF, and Horse Racing Nation is covering it too. When you pull up their live feed on YouTube, all the way from the valets to the pony people to the gate crew, they’re all in matching colors, bright red, looking sharp. And Kirt and Stretch do an awesome job on the handicapping show. Again, these guys do a heck of a job.”

Diodoro plans to drive from Saratoga to Montreal on Saturday morning and fly directly to Winnipeg in the afternoon. His horses will be happy to see him.

As will Assiniboia Downs.