By Scott Taylor (@staylorsports)
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Mechanic Susie wins the Distaff with Antonio Whitehall aboard at Assiniboia Downs on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. (JASON HALSTEAD PHOTO)
WINNIPEG — Assiniboia Downs CEO Darren Dunn has admitted that it’s been a strange and amazing summer at the local track.
From a virus that crippled the track’s progress for a month and forced ASD into a scaled-down two-nights-a-week schedule to the cancelling of ASD’s participation in the Western Canada Triple Crown to the suspension of his five-time champion trainer to a triumphant return to the top with a spectacular Manitoba Derby, the rollercoaster has been running non-stop at the Downs.
Yet, through it all, Dunn’s incredible team has remained steady and focused and as we enter the final month of the season, there is a very good chance this might be one of the best meets ever.
“This has been such an unusual ride, but I’m used to it and we have a team that can adapt” Dunn said. “We band together, we focus, and we all did the very best we could under trying circumstances.”
Despite everything that went wrong in June and July, local racing fans would not let ASD down. Wagering has been strong and attendance has been so good. In fact, the attendance numbers have made a mockery of the suggestion that people won’t head out to the west end of town on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
“The crowds on site have been tremendous this year even against the backdrop of inconsistent weather,” Dunn said. “We’re an outdoor sport and when it rains, I don’t care whether you’re Assiniboia Downs, the Bombers or the Goldeyes, it can affect Game Day walk-up traffic. Whether it’s from Manitobans or the tourism industry in general, our crowds have been very, very strong and it’s been encouraging. We were able to do some strong business despite the quarantine that restricted our ability to bring in fresh horses for more than a month.”
Dunn has made it pretty clear all summer that the ongoing highlight of the 2024 ASD Meet has been the jockey race. This past week, Prayven Badrie had a win and held on to his lead in the standings, but Damario Bynoe won three times and Antonio Whitehall won twice and the race is tightening.
On Tuesday, in the only stakes race of the week, Whitehall rode Mechanic Susie to victory in the $40,000 Distaff Stakes for fillies and mares. Trained by Elton Dickey and owned by Tom Payne, Larry Falloon and Elton Dickey, Mechanic Susie paid $5.80, $2.40 and $2.10.
“It’s a phenomenal jockey race,” said Dunn. “Prayven Badrie is riding lights out. He came here originally over a decade ago and I’ve never seen him ride better. Antonio Whitehall is as hungry as I’ve ever seen him in an effort to defend his title. Damario Bynoe is riding top shelf. It’s a great colony and a close colony but it’s going to be a full-on, mano-a-mano fist fight right to the wire of the final race in September to see who wears that crown.”
Badrie continues to lead the way with 38 wins, 26 seconds and 25 third-place finishes and a track-leading $451,108 in earnings for his owners. He’s made 143 starts this season.
Bynoe is second with 32 wins, 26 seconds, 22 thirds and $349,385 in winnings in 143 starts. Whitehall is third with 31 wins, 26 seconds, 29 third-place finishes and $380,372 in earnings in 170 starts.
On the trainers’ side, it’s all about Lee Delaronde who has built an almost insurmountable lead. The trainer who was asked to take care of defending champion Jerry Gourneau’s horses after Gourneau was suspended, now has 27 wins, 25 seconds and 16 third-place finishes in 179 starts and has won a whopping $322,658. Devon Gittens is second with 19 wins, 14 seconds, 26 thirds and $207,248 in earnings in 105 starts. Michael Nault is third with 17 wins, 15 seconds, 16 thirds and $234,278 in 69 starts.
Racing continues on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Assiniboia Downs. Post time for Race 1 is always 7:30 p.m. This week, there will be three important stakes’ races: On Monday, Aug. 26, it’s the $24,000 The Coral Prospect Overnight Stakes; on Tuesday, Aug. 27, it’s the $24,000 The Nephrite Overnight Stakes; and on Wednesday, Aug. 28, it’s the $50,000 Osiris Stakes for two-year-olds. For more information, visit ASDowns.com.
