Buckle up for fast and furious times at the races

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/08/2020 (2205 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Buckle up. With the Manitoba Derby on holiday Monday in the record books, we’re heading into fast and furious times in the horse racing world, not only locally but nationally and internationally as well.

COVID-19 confusion and cancellations in the spring pushed significant races into the coming weeks so there’s lots to look forward to. The Kentucky Derby, usually held on the first Saturday in May, will now be run on the first Saturday in September.

Canada’s oldest stakes race and the longest continuously-run stakes race on the continent, the Queen’s Plate, which usually runs at Woodbine race track in Toronto in late June, will now run a week after the Kentucky Derby.

That means the Canadian Triple Crown — the Queen’s Plate, the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie (Tues., Sept. 29) and the Breeders’ Stakes on Woodbine turf (Sat., Oct. 24) — are now part of late summer/early fall excitement.

The usual second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., will now be the last leg this year, to be held on the first Saturday in October.

Got it all sorted out?

Those races will be sandwiched among western Canadian races that will be held later than usual. The B.C. Derby will run on the same day as the Queen’s Plate (Sat., Sept. 12) and the Canadian Derby, once held at Polo Park in Winnipeg, is scheduled for the last Sunday in September at the new Century Mile race track in Edmonton.

At Assiniboia Downs, only the Manitoba Derby and the Manitoba Oaks (for the best three-year-old filly) have been solved. Kickalittlebooty, a catchy name for a filly, did exactly that when she nailed Dazzling Gold in the Manitoba Oaks thriller last Tuesday (see photo).

In the next month of racing, which continues Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., the other pieces of the COVID-year puzzle will be put into place, culminating in the Gold Cup Stakes for the best horse on the grounds, the Manitoba Matron for the top female, the Winnipeg Futurity for the finest two-year-old and the Buffalo Stakes for the quickest Manitoba-bred baby.

There will be televised specials on some of these races — the Queen’s Plate, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes — but you can catch all of the above races online with an HPIbet.com account or at Assiniboia Downs in the Terrace Dining Room (reservations required) or in the Race Book that features daily racing from Canada, the U.S. and Australia. The grandstand remains spectator-less. You may also drop into an off-track betting venue (listed at ASDowns.com).

Will we have another U.S. Triple Crown winner since Justify two years ago? Will we celebrate the first Canadian Triple Crown winner since Wando accomplished the feat in 2003? Will hot, hot ASD trainer Jerry Gourneau win the Daily Double of the two biggest ASD races, the Gold Cup and the Matron? (He’s on-track to do so.)

Finding out the answers should be fun — best of luck in making them profitable, too.