Assiniboia Downs bettors put their money where their mount is

You could tell Assiniboia Downs was having a great season by the size of the wagering pools and the constantly growing crowds, but we certainly didn’t expect them to shatter their previous wagering record by a whopping $12 million.

Fans wagered an unprecedented total of $75.2 million on the live racing this season, which ended Wednesday, bettering the previous mark of $63.2 million set in 2020. Average wagering per card was $1.5 million, and wagering was up 21.16 per cent over the previous season.

One of the major reasons for the increase in wagering was the track’s strategic move over the past few years to reduce all takeouts on wagers to below 20 per cent, something that is very rare at North American tracks for obvious reasons, but it results in higher payoffs and puts more money back in the pockets of bettors.

The reduced takeout was a long-term play, and it absolutely worked. Kudos to Assiniboia Downs CEO Darren Dunn, VP of Finance and Gaming Sharon Gulyas and their management team for thinking well ahead of the curve. All the staff deserve a pat on the back this year for their excellent customer service, both on the betting side and in the food and beverage area. The nightly prime rib buffet was almost always sold out, and the newly minted Girls Night Out on Wednesday evenings turned out to be a huge hit among the ladies, with fancy hats and outfits everywhere.

Kindness the key to Danelson’s decades of Assiniboia Downs success

We thought last year was trainer Gary Danelson’s swan song at Assiniboia Downs. We were wrong.

The 88-year-old all-time leading trainer at Assiniboia Downs was in the winner’s circle Tuesday night as an owner after winning the 96th running of the $50,000 Winnipeg Futurity with Omaha Warrior, trained by Jared Brown.

“It felt pretty good,” said Danelson. “I’d never won the Futurity. And I’ve never won the Manitoba Derby.”

Danelson left training last year when his grey speedball Kate’s Princess bumped him into the wall of her stall and broke his hip. That and facing two forms of cancer, one in remission, ended his training days, but he couldn’t stay away from his home away from home. He was back this year with a horse Brown purchased for him in the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale for $20,000.

Nations Pride, trainer Charlie Appleby back to defend Canadian International title

TORONTO - It's taken two years, but Nations Pride and trainer Charlie Appleby can finally defend their $750,000 Canadian International crown.

The Irish-bred horse won the 2023 International at Woodbine Racetrack. But last year's race wasn't held due to "logistical challenges" associated with cargo flights required to transport European horses to North America.

Nations Pride will top the 10-horse field Saturday in the 1 1/2-mile Grade 1 race that will be run on Woodbine's inner turf course.

The six-year-old comes in following a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Dancer Stakes turf event Aug. 9 at Saratoga. Nations Pride has 11 wins from 23 career starts and posted 17 top-three finishes (second twice, third twice) for over $3.7 million in earnings.

Trainer puts his money where his horses are — and a couple of longshots

If you bet $56 to win $4,502, what were the odds on your wager? Mike Pierce knows.

Hall of Fame trainer Attfield chases 10th career Breeders’ Stakes win with Ciunas

TORONTO - It might not be as prestigious as the Triple Crown but trainer Roger Attfield will look to achieve yet another career milestone Sunday in the $400,000 Breeders' Stakes.

Attfield, a Hall of Fame conditioner in Canada and the U.S., will chase a 10th Breeders Stakes crown at Woodbine Racetrack. Attfield has already won this event more than any other trainer but will look to reach double digits with Ciunas, who'll be ridden by Sahin Civaci and break from the No. 4 post in the nine-horse race.

Ciunas heads into his first stakes race off two solid wins — one on Woodbine's main track, the other on its inner turf circuit. Ciunas, sent off as the 5-2 choice in a 6 1/2-furlong event July 6, rallied from last to top the 11-horse field by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:17.65.

"He has a powerful late kick," said Attfield. "That’s the way we kind of want him to run."

The ‘Queen,’ ‘Kings’ and ‘Prince’ rule the Downs

The “Queen” is back, the “Kings” aren’t far behind, and the “Prince” is running away with the Gold.

Susie does her duty at Downs

Manitoba-bred stars highlighted two of the three stakes this week at Assiniboia Downs, and a bargain invader from south of the border took the other.

The winners of all three stakes were so good it’s difficult to decide who to mention first, so we’ll go with ladies first.

Mechanic Susie won the $40,000 Distaff Stakes on Tuesday for trainer Elton Dickey, his ownership partners Tom Payne and breeder Larry Falloon, and groom Kenroy (Cuba) Rowe, and she was doing it for the second year in a row.

Last year, the five-year-old Manitoba-bred mare by Nonios out of Quantum Mechanics by Einstein won six races in a row, including the Distaff, on her way to being named champion older mare. Ahe looks like she’s going to do similar this year.

It’s been quite the ride for horse-loving Waywayseecappo chief

Six decades ago Murray Clearsky ran away from a residential school in Brandon, not knowing where his life would take him.

On Thursday night at Assiniboia Downs, he was honoured by Indigenous leaders from across the country for his lifetime of accomplishments, including the past 40 years as chief of Waywayseecappo First Nation.

It’s been quite a ride, and always connected to horses.

Indigenous leaders and dignitaries at the ceremony included Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, Peguis First Nation Chief Dr. Stan Bird, Southern Chiefs Organization Grand Chief Jerry Daniels, AFN Regional Chief Willie Moore, Brokenhead Ojibway First Nation Chief Gordon Bluesky, Lake Manitoba First Nation Chief Cornell McLean, and Allen Sutherland, elder and knowledge keeper, who delivered the opening prayer.

Gourneau gunning for next title

Five-time leading ASD trainer Jerry Gourneau rocketed up in the standings this week with six wins, including two overnight stakes, and he’s showing no signs of stopping with a four-person crew and 20 horses to back him up.

Gourneau returned to the fray from Texas in June and quickly won with Fast Traffic on June 23. And despite being late to the local party this year, he might actually have a shot of catching current leading trainer Steve Keplin Jr. to win his sixth title.

Keplin currently has 32 wins while Gourneau has 20, but six-win weeks can close that gap in a hurry. Much of Gourneau’s younger help returned to school this week, but his two assistant trainers, Jennifer Tourangeau and Madison Tirk, along with groom/owner Manny Medeiros, still managed to get the winner’s circle in a big way.

Two of Gourneau’s six wins came in overnight stakes on Tuesday. He won the Miss Imperial Overnight Stakes for fillies and mares with Baby Gundin ($13.60) and followed that up in the next race with a victory in the Already Dia Overnight Stakes with Malibu S S ($7.20).

A yearling sale like no other

The big money will be looking at one horse in particular in the annual Manitoba’s CTHS Yearling Sale this Sunday at Assiniboia Downs, but there could be a diamond in the rough anywhere in this sale, which is packed with quality and more horses than usual this year.

Hip #32, a bay gelding by Speculating out of multiple Manitoba champion and Horse of the Year Hidden Grace, consigned by Ziprick Thoroughbreds, is expected to be the sales topper on Sunday, but you never know what can happen once the action starts.

The sale takes place in a different location this year, at the new CTHS Sale Pavilion in the Assiniboia Downs backstretch, and the first yearling goes through the ring at 2:30 p.m. Viewing of the yearlings began at noon Friday and there will be numerous others who attract attention.

“We’ve got 41 hips in the sale, 13 more than last year,” said CTHS Director Wayne King, who serves as chair of the yearling sale. The increase in the number of yearlings offered is directly tied to an innovative breeding incentive program created in partnership with the Manitoba Jockey Club. “This is the first crop that would have been subscribed to that program,” said King.

Ron Turcotte, who rode Secretariat to the 1973 Triple Crown, dead at 84

He won over 3,000 career races, but Ron Turcotte will forever be remembered for the three he registered aboard the legendary Secretariat 52 years ago.

Turcotte guided Secretariat to an emphatic American Triple Crown sweep in 1973. So dominant was that performance that Secretariat still holds the records he set that year in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont.

Turcotte’s family said through his longtime business partner Leonard Lusky that the jockey died of natural causes at his home in Drummond, N.B., on Friday. He was 84.

Secretariat capped the Triple Crown sweep in dramatic style, registering an emphatic 31-length victory in the Belmont. That performance, dubbed by many as one of the most dominant in sports history, made Secretariat and Turcotte the first American Triple Crown winners in 25 years.

‘Part of me is gone’: Abrupt end for Fraser Downs track a blow to B.C. horse racing

Kristina Rennich started working as a groom at the Fraser Downs racetrack, formerly known as Cloverdale Raceway, when she decided to turn her passion for horses into a career at the age of 12.

Rennich, 53, said she used to tag along with trainers to soak up every piece of knowledge she could at the track in Surrey, B.C., which has operated for almost 50 years.

She said the abrupt announcement of the harness racing track's closure last week is a blow to her childhood memories.

"That was a place that helped me develop into the person I became," said Rennich, who now runs a facility looking after special-needs horses in Edmonton.