02-08-2025
Take Tom Charge the horse to beat
The 77th running of the $125,000 Manitoba Derby highlights the biggest race night of the year on Monday, Aug. 4 at Assiniboia Downs. If current live crowds are any indication, this will be a grand night for horse hawks and people watchers.
The fans have been coming out in droves in July and the parking lot looks like a throwback to the '70s, or the '60s. If you were one of the kids running around picking up tickets off the tarmac in those decades, you'll know what we're talking about. I know I was.
The crowds have been loud too, but nothing like they'll be on Monday night when the races kick off at 7:30 p.m. for a stellar card of seven races, bolstered by three stakes featuring the best horses on the grounds.
JASON HALSTEAD / ASSINIBOIA PHOTO
Rasheed Hughes rides Manitoba Derby favourite Take Charge Tom (3) to victory in the 31st running of the Derby Trial Stakes.
The $50,000 Escape Clause Stakes for fillies and mares goes as the fourth race and is led by star filly Burrow Down, the reigning queen of the female set, who is 10-for-13 at the Downs. The $50,000 Harvey Warner Manitoba Mile goes as the wide-open fifth race with 10 rivals trying to beat favourite Judo, who has won five in a row for leading trainer Steve Keplin, Jr.
The Manitoba Derby goes as the sixth race on the card and is led by Derby Trial winner Take Charge Tom, who outgamed fellow derby entrant Just Trust Me to win the $50,000 Derby Trial two weeks ago for trainer Robertino Diodoro, who holds the record for the most Manitoba Derby wins with four.
One of the top trainers in North America, Diodoro conditions Take Charge Tom for his longtime owner Randy Howg. Diodoro and Howg teamed up to win the 2016 Manitoba Derby with Inside Straight. Interestingly, Howg and Diodoro also teamed up to win three stakes with Take Charge Tom's dam, Gorgeous Ginny, before Howg bred her to multiple Grade II stakes winner Tom's d'Etat, the mating that produced Take Charge Tom.
Take Charge Tom is the logical Derby favourite based on his connections, class, and race record, having won three stakes including the $125,000 Mine That Bird Derby at Sunland Park at the Manitoba Derby distance of 1 1/8 miles. If he brings his A game there might be no stopping him, but that's why we run horse races, and seven rivals think they can beat him on Monday.
Lined up to face the favourite, who drew Post 7, from inside out are: 1. Border Song, a shipper from Alberta for trainer Robert Van Overschot, who won the Manitoba Derby in 2021 with Uncharacteristic; 2. Acknowledge, who was competitive against some classy rivals at Churchill Downs before arriving in the barn of trainer Wendy Anderson, who won rare back-to-back Gold Cups here at the Derby distance of 1 1/8 miles with Magic Tiger; 3. Mr Jaws, a fresh Texas claim for five-time leading ASD trainer Jerry Gourneau and perennial leading owner Henry S. Witt, Jr., who teamed up to win the Manitoba Derby in 2023 with longshot Mano Dura.
Next we have: 4. Attack, who had been testing very tough horses at Gulfstream Park and Keeneland before arriving in the barn of top Alberta trainer Craig Robert Smith; 5. War Is Hell, a Derby longshot that finished third in the Derby Trial for trainer Jason Homer, whose horses have been outrunning their odds all season here; 6. Maldini, who was routing successfully at Woodbine before being claimed by top local owners Arnason Farms, Olsen and Cristina Belle, and moving to the barn of overachieving local trainer Lise Pruitt; and 8. Just Trust Me, a game speedster who finished second in the Derby Trial to Take Charge Tom, and who has been pointed to this race since this winter by his stakes-winning connections, trainer Dewey Williams and owner Eugene Burns.
Thursdays
Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.
Any horse in the field could post an upset in the Manitoba Derby. They all have reasons and dreams, some of which bettors will be hoping come true in the huge multi-race wagers, which require you to pick the winners of consecutive races on one ticket.
The Derby evening card includes a $100,000 Guaranteed $1 Pick 4 Pool on races 4-7, and a mandatory payout on the 20-cent Jackpot Pick 5, which runs on races 3-7 and features a carryover pool of $465,217 that is expected to grow to between $1-2 million by post time for the third race. If you're the person holding the winning ticket on the Jackpot Pick 5, you get the whole pool. If there is more than one winning ticket holder, you split the pot with them.
When the favourites don't win the races that make up these multi-race wagers the payouts can explode, and in the case of the Pick 5, you can bet a ticket for just 20 cents. Better odds than the 6/49, too.
There will be money and horses flying everywhere on Derby evening, along with a chance to win a $100 wager on a Derby horse, a history display from ASD historian Bob Gates, and family fun like bouncy castles, face painting, and entertainment for the youngsters.
Note, win or lose, the bouncy castles are for kids.
