Uncharacteristic claims Derby

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This article was published 04/08/2021 (1760 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Former $8,000 claimer Uncharacteristic won the 73rd running of the $100,000 Manitoba Derby at Assiniboia Downs on Monday evening, giving Winnipeg born and raised Adam Isfeld his first win as a racehorse owner, in front of what can only be described as a perfect crowd.

“His mom and dad live here,” said winning trainer Robert VanOverschot. “His dad’s a fisherman. When we entered the horse I said to him, ‘Wouldn’t that be a dream come true to have a horse that could win the Manitoba Derby in your hometown?’ He said,‘Yeah, that would be unreal.’”

And it was.

Taking advantage of a perfect ground saving trip under Hastings Park-based Argentinian rider Alexander Marti, Uncharacteristic exploded into the stretch to tackle favoured Myopic, duelled with that one to mid stretch and drew out to win by 1¼-lengths.

“Going down the backstretch he (jockey Marti) said he had so much horse he just started talking to him to slow him down,” said VanOverschot. “He was just ready to blow up. He said he had tons of horse when he got to the other horse in the stretch, but when he got to him he looked up at the lights and they startled him. He had to get him going again. He said he would have won by many. He’d never run under lights before.”

Uncharacteristic rewarded his win-place-show backers with overlay payoffs of $12.50, $4.00, $3.00 across the board, and also helped boost the payoff for more than 1,500 winners of the Jackpot Pick 5, which paid $600.96 for a 20-cent ticket on an evening that also set a new wagering record for Manitoba Derby Day.

Fans online and off wagered $2,542,309 on the eight-race card, including $1,161,268 on the Jackpot Pick 5, upping that pool’s total to $1,488,795 by post time for the fourth race. The Jackpot Pick 5 guaranteed a minimum $1-million dollar prize if there was a single winning ticket holder, but there were numerous happy tickets that had the correct combination of winners on races 4-8 that included Norm’s Place (4th race, $4.50), Catalina Dreamin (5th, $7.60), Captain John (6th, $15.10), Uncharacteristic (7th, $12.50), and Benroy (8th race, $5.60).

“What a night this year’s Derby was, and it was so great to have some fans attend again,” said Assiniboia Downs CEO Darren Dunn. “The full field for the race set up quite a finish. It was fantastic to hear that roar of the crowd. We are so thankful to horseplayers, horse people and staff who all came together to pull off an outstanding event.”

Favoured Myopic ran a strong race in the Derby for trainer Robertino Diodoro, finishing second after duelling outside early. The top pair outclassed their rivals in the largest Manitoba Derby field since 1992, with Myopic finishing 10 lengths ahead of third-place finisher Warriors Hero, trained by Steve Gaskin. It was another length back to fourth-place finisher Major Shepard, conditioned by Kenneth Amthor.

When asked why he hadn’t been back with a horse for the Manitoba Derby since winning the race in 2002, VanOverschot said he basically quit training horses in 2014, but was coaxed back into the game by Isfeld, and decided it would be nice to claim a few two-year-olds to have as three-year-olds for this year, when he spotted Uncharacteristic in an $8,000 claiming race.

“I knew his mother,” said VanOverschot. “And I’d watched him train in the mornings. He was a hard horse to deal with, he kept bucking the riders off. He was tough as nails. I thought he could probably be a racehorse, so we claimed him.”

Uncharacteristic finished second in his first start this year on May 25, in a waiver claiming race for $8,000, which meant he couldn’t be claimed, and the horse that beat him that day, Sir Bregovic, is now a perfect 4-for-4 this year and one of the best horses in B.C. In his only other start before the Manitoba Derby, Uncharacteristic was rated off a slow pace that was expected to be a fast pace, and came flying late, after the wire.

“The jockey said it was the first time he’d ever been on a horse that ran off after the race because he was mad at him,” said VanOverschot.

A grey three-year-old gelding sired by 2003 Gotham Stakes-G3 runner-up Texas Wildcatter, Uncharacteristic is out of the stakes-placed mare My Kentucky Rose by 2000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile-G1 winner Macho Uno. He certainly had enough class and stamina in his pedigree to get the Manitoba Derby distance, he just wanted to run.

Isfeld, who now owns a car dealership in New Westminster, B.C., wasn’t able to make it to the race for his first win as an owner, as he was still waiting for his second COVID-19 vaccination. He can at least take some solace in the fact that his $8,000 horse just won the $61,200 winner’s share of the Manitoba Derby purse in his boyhood stomping grounds, which was not only a dream come true, but also…

Uncharacteristic.