Big year ahead at Assiniboia Downs
And we're off!
Assiniboia Downs kicks off its 68th live race meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13, and the horses and their handlers are champing at the bit to get into that much-coveted winner's circle.
The 50-day meeting will offer racing on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and selected Mondays (June 2, June 23, July 14, Aug. 4, Aug. 25, Sept. 15) with a post time of 7:30 p.m. until October 8. And two of the most popular handicappers on the internet, Kirt and Stretch, will be back with their ASD Live Show picks and analysis beginning every race night at 6:45 p.m. on the ASD YouTube Channel.
Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
Assiniboia Downs CEO Darren Dunn with Gold Cup winner Magic Tiger.
The highlight of the meeting will be the $125,000 Manitoba Derby sponsored by Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, which takes place on Monday, Aug. 4, as the first leg of the Western Canadian Derby Series, which offers a $100,000 bonus to any horse that can sweep the Manitoba Derby, the $200,000 Canadian Derby at Century Mile, and the $125,000 BC Derby at Hastings Racecourse.
Seven races have been carded for an opening night that starts with the Don Gray Memorial as the first race, recognizing one of the classiest trainers ever to race at the Downs, and ends with a tough allowance/optional claimer featuring last year's Gold Cup winner Magic Tiger, trained by Wendy Anderson. The seventh race also caps off the popular $1 Pick 4, which begins the season with a $25,000 guaranteed pool.
Magic Tiger would prefer to run a lot further, but the rare back-to-back Gold Cup winner has to get started somewhere for trainer Wendy Anderson, who has one of the largest stables on the grounds in a year when the battle for the leading trainer title looks wide open.
Last year, Lee Delaronde won the title after taking over the conditioning of leading owner Henry S. Witt Jr.'s stable from Jerry Gourneau. This year, Delaronde is training nine horses, while Gourneau remains in the U.S. with Witt's horses. In the absence of Gourneau's traditionally large stable, numerous other trainers have packed their stalls with 20 or more horses including six-time leading trainer Tom Gardipy, Jr., Jared Brown, Carl Anderson, Steve Keplin, Jr., Mike Taphorn, Mike Nault, Lise Pruitt, Devon Gittens, and Sherri Laing.
2024 leading rider Prayven Badrie has returned from Trinidad to defend his title, along with all of the top 10 jockeys and more from last year, including 2024 runner-up Damario Bynoe and three-time champion Antonio Whitehall. That trio will be joined in the jocks' room by Ronald Ali, Rachaad Knights, Renaldo Cumberbatch, Dane Dawkins, Neville Stephenson, Sven Balroop, Arthur Budhu, Shavon Belle, Dario Dalrymple, Douglas Badaloo and a host of new apprentices.
Bettors will once again be looking forward to the huge pools that are a result of the Downs growing its audience to include punters from around the globe in the United States, UK, Mexico, a number of countries in Europe, and also Australia, where ASD racing will be offered by Sky Sports. The Downs live race presentation that is broadcast around the world is considered to be the best of its kind, and it shows in the wagering. The Downs has also partnered with Travel Manitoba to showcase their product in two 30-second commercials around the world.
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On the home front, the Downs continues to attract customers with free parking and admission, great food (which can now be ordered via Skip The Dishes), numerous events, and Family Fun Nights every Tuesday in July and August (and on opening night). New for 2025 is a customer rewards program named ASD Advantage, which complements their rewards program already in place at HPIBet.com, by measuring and rewarding attendance and repeat food and beverage purchasing. The intent is to personalize the customer experience while rewarding loyalty to the facility.
There will be three Manitoba Night Market events at the track this summer, featuring more than 100 local companies, along with other events that include Ribfest from May 23-25, Food Truck Battles on May 31 and June 1, Rocking & Wrestling on June 28, and PizzaFest on July 4 and 5. Watch the Downs social media pages on Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, and TikTok for more information on these events.
Finally, we have the return of the popular 50/50 draw on live race nights, from which funds produced go to the Winner's Foundation — which provides addiction and counselling support to participants in the industry, and to Final Furlong — an organization that finds new homes for retired racehorses after their careers on the track conclude.
It's amazing how many racehorses have found other careers after retiring from racing, thanks to Final Furlong, which is a member of the Horse Aftercare Alliance.
Kindness wins.
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