Things looking up at Assiniboia Downs

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This article was published 19/05/2022 (1353 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It is the little racetrack that could, constantly punching above its weight while dodging plenty of close calls over the years. And now, after two straight pandemic-impacted seasons, Assiniboia Downs is preparing to celebrate a return to normal.

They’re at the post. And folks, you can bet they’re ready to take off.

“With an exhale, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to horse around again,” Darren Dunn, the chief executive officer at ASD, said to loud applause Thursday during a kickoff luncheon for the upcoming 65th season.

The first bugle call won’t happen until shortly after 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday May 31, the first of 50 days of racing through to Sept. 27. But the 2022 campaign is already off to a heck of a running start.

Rich Strike, the extreme longshot winner of the Kentucky Derby earlier this month, is a native son, of sorts. His mom is Gold Strike, a thoroughbred mare born in 2002 just outside of Winnipeg who had a terrific career at the Downs.

“I’m in the odds business and I have no idea what they’d be. Maybe a million to one. Maybe a billion to one. But it happened. And we are so proud of our breeders here in Manitoba,” said Dunn. “What a great feather in their cap. They put Manitoba on the map for the world to see.”

Indeed. And, in a glass-half-full kind of way, COVID-19 did as well over the last two years. With major public health protocols limiting live spectators, ASD had to find other ways to stay relevant in the competitive horse racing industry.

The result was an expansion of online simulcasts in places such as Australia and Europe and wagering that constantly broke records and not only had the track surviving, but thriving. Now, with the doors back open to everyone, the hope is to keep building off that momentum.

“For the first time in over two years we can attend restriction free from the word go,” said Dunn, noting they’ll still very much be “COVID cautious.”

At least $125 million a year in economic impact. The equivalent of more than 1,100 full-time jobs. Tax revenues approaching $40 million annually. There’s no question the Downs is a significant contributor to the community, in addition to being a major source of entertainment.

A quick aside: My introduction came approximately 40 years ago when, as a wee little lad, my grandfather began taking us to the track. The sight of these magnificent animals thundering down the stretch, the anticipation and roar of the crowd had me hooked.

I’ve never been much of a gambler — a couple $2 bets per race is about as wild as I get — but the atmosphere of the track is hard to beat. And, in recent years, getting to meet some of the terrific people who keep it running smoothly, including the trainers who travel from far and wide to set up shop here every season, has also been a pleasure.

People such as Jerry Gourneau, the North Dakota staple who has won the leading trainer award two straight years, and three of the past four. He’s back with another big stable this season, looking for the natural hat trick. As Dunn noted on Thursday, Indigenous trainers such as Gourneau have now led the way at ASD for seven consecutive years, and nine of the last 13.

“The Indigenous centre of excellence for achievement in sport that occurs out here, its unlike any other sport in Winnipeg and Manitoba,” he said.

And people like Shelley Brown, the first woman to ever win top trainer award (2012) who is courageously battling cancer. Fact is, there’s an endless list of great people and personalities, compelling characters and stories to be found at the track.

ASD has found plenty of other revenue streams which they’ll continue to offer, including three night markets, the Summer Of Sound dance festival and the Manito Ahbee Festival being held over this coming long weekend. They’ll be giving away four trips for two to Las Vegas during the season, have expanded the number of off-track betting locations in Winnipeg from six to eight, and have added additional simulcast partners around the world.

As much as this season is going to be a celebration, there will also be a sense of sadness hanging over everyone. Harvey Warner, board chair of the Manitoba Jockey Club which operates the Downs, died suddenly in March at the age of 74, leaving a major hole in the hearts of all who knew him.

An empty chair at Thursday’s luncheon in his honour had Dunn fighting back tears.

“It’s a chair he should have been sitting in himself today,” he said.

Dunn spoke about the impact Warner had, including leading the fight in the 1970s to save the industry in Manitoba. With the Downs in bankruptcy under its private owner and facing an uncertain future, Warner created the non-profit MJC to take it out of insolvency. The rest, as they say, is history.

Warner owned a horse named Rough Catch, which won the Manitoba Derby in 1989. That was Dunn’s first-ever call of the province’s biggest race as the newly-hired track announcer.

“Little did I know how intertwined our lives would become,” said Dunn, who exchanged text messages with Warner when he began experiencing chest pains and went to Grace Hospital to get checked out, sending a final message that read “Keep Me Posted.” The tragic news came in a few hours later.

ASD is planning to honour Warner in several ways, including a celebration of life that will be held this Saturday at 2 p.m. at the track. They’ve also created the “Harvey Warner Manitoba Mile” stakes race that will be held Derby day on Aug. 1. They’ve also filed a formal application to have Warner considered for induction into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame. Jockey Todd Kabel, who was born in McCreary and went on to a legendary career — including riding Rough Catch to victory in 1989 — has also been added to the application. Kabel died last year in Toronto at the age of 55.

“Both men are more than deserving of that recognition,” said Dunn.

It should be a special season. And in an industry where underdogs usually aren’t given much of a chance — and two turbulent years have taken a heavy toll on many facets of society — it’s nice to see the local gem that is ASD still standing tall and ready to burst out of the starting gate once again.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg