Gourneau’s mounts coming up roses

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This article was published 31/05/2018 (2920 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Trainer Jerry Gourneau is up to his old tricks, there’s a surprise in the local jockey standings and Shane Doan will be in town this weekend — the horse, not the hockey player.

Gourneau has been training horses for more than 40 years, and nothing ever really changes. He ships into Assiniboia Downs with long shots and meets them in the winner’s circle. Saturday was a banner night for Gourneau, who surged to a big lead in the trainer standings with four wins. They weren’t all long shots this time, but the prices were all decent.

Gourneau won the third race Saturday with Eyes Have It ($11.40), ridden by Antonio Whitehall; the fourth with Dehaven ($7), with Chavion Chow in the irons; the fifth with Tsunami Girl ($5) and Dario Dalrymple; and the seventh with Zar’s Star ($15.40), again with Chow up.

The four-win night gave Gourneau nine wins from 47 starts at Assinboia Downs this season, along with five seconds and three thirds. Eurico Martens is next in the trainer standings with five wins and Don Schnell has four, followed by a logjam of trainers with three wins — including Tom Gardipy Jr., Juan Pablo Silva, Jared Brown and Murray Duncan.

“Racing luck is a major part of it,” Gourneau said. “Your game might be on, but you need to have a little luck to go with it.”

A 57-year-old First Nations Chippewa from Turtle Mountain Reserve in Belcourt, N.D., Gourneau has been coming to the Downs with the same kind of horses for as long as we can remember, and many of them have non-descript racing records, yet they win.

This year, Gourneau has 34 horses, and more on the way, for a small group of owners that includes Scott Horst, Henry S. Witt Jr. and the Gourneau Brothers, the latter of which includes Jerry and his brothers Bill and Dave. Brother Larry is also a trainer in Tampa, Fla.

All four brothers have post-secondary educations and spent most of their lives in positions ranging from elementary and secondary school principals to college vice-presidents and administrators, which still left time during the summer for the horses.

Dad (Larry Sr.) and Mom (Jeannette) had horses while the boys and their two sisters, Betty Jean and Connie (both teachers), were growing up. And while the girls didn’t gravitate towards racehorses, the boys couldn’t resist. One of the first racehorses owned by Larry Sr. was L.D. Ribot, which some fans will remember was a pretty good horse in these parts during the 1980s, compiling a record of 11-25-17 from 103 starts.

All four brothers were also accomplished basketball players and athletes, which combined with their ability to teach, has helped them in their life with horses.

“Horses have always been a very important part of our culture and our lives,” Bill Gourneau said. “And that continues today.

“At Turtle Mountain, 90 per cent of the people own horses.”

Currently assisted in the barn by Manny Medeiros, Jay Thomas, Jim and Kathy Ross, Dave Gourneau and his sons Dave Jr. and Jason, Jerry Gourneau has trained some very good horses in the past — including local champion and graded stakes-placed Witt Six and Gold Cup-winner Big Blue Caboose.

Gourneau might have another good one in the barn, too.

We’ll see tonight, when he runs Scott Horst’s Starship Mischief in the sixth race. The horse beat some of the best mares on the grounds in her first local start here after arriving from Fonner Park, and she’ll be trying to double up over many of the same bunch with Domingo Chacaltana in the saddle.

Also on tap for tonight is the $18,000 Balooga Bull Stakes for three-year-olds, which has attracted Shane Doan (the horse) all the way from Prairie Meadows in Iowa, for top trainer Robertino Diodoro and owner Randy Howg, who teamed up to win the Manitoba Derby in 2016.

Diodoro will no doubt be trying to figure out if this horse has the goods for this year’s Manitoba Derby, and he’ll have to beat four rivals, including impressive local allowance-winner Candy Giant. Trained by his owner Eurico Martens, Candy Giant is slated to be ridden again by Paul (Country) Francis, one of the top riders of all time in Jamaica, who returned after a year away and is currently tied for second in the jockey standings with Antonio Whitehall with five wins, three back of leader Adolfo Morales, who will be aboard Shane Doan in the Balooga Bull Stakes.

On Saturday night, there will be two more stakes, including the $25,000 Frank Arnason Sire Stakes for the top Manitoba-bred three-year-olds, and the $18,000 Miss Missile Overnight Stakes for the best three-year-old fillies on the grounds.

None of the horses in the latter race were the subject of a recent conversation between a trainer and a jockey agent.

“How come we’re not on that horse?” asked the jockey agent. “You don’t want to be,” replied the trainer.

“Why?” asked the agent. “She’s slow,” said the trainer. The agent was still hopeful.

“And crazy,” added the trainer.

The jockey agent ran away.