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Assiniboia Downs
Champion jockey Antonio Whitehall not only led the standings at Assiniboia Downs, but was the leading jockey in Canada
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Trainer Jerry Gourneau got his 500th career win and won the trainers title at the Downs for the second time
Jockey Stanley Chadee Jr. won almost a dozen stakes races and finished second in the jockey standings
ASD Sets Records During a Strange Season
On Monday night, May 25, Manitoba’s great little thoroughbred race track, Assiniboia Downs opened amid the COVID-19 pandemic by running six races with no fans in attendance and yet, by the end of the season, the track was having one of its greatest racing seasons ever. It started with a decision to run its races on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, instead of the weekend so maximize exposure and on-line wagering. It resulted in record after record. The 2020 50-day race meet concluded with total wagering of $63,264,000, dwarfing last year’s $12,467,855 for the same number of days. The 2020 average was $1.265 million per night. A new season wagering record was also set. The previous record was set in 1981 when $53,394,913 was wagered during a 135-day race meet. SportsLife Magazine sent Rusty Barton and James Carey Lauder out to the track to photograph the people who made it happen. l
Jockey Shannon Beauregard won the 900th race of her career at the Downs this summer
Young trainer Tiffany husbands with her stakeswinning Manitoba-bred Dazzling Gold
The gate crew social distancing, from left Derek Corbel, Earl Johnson, Ryan Keith, Clayton Quewezance, Darrell Sanderson, Sheldon Chickeness, Cameron Delaronde and Curtis Mike
Jockey Stanley Chadee Jr. celebrates victory on Miss Imperial in the Canada Day stakes
Melisandre
Cypress Point wins the Matron
Melisandre, Mongolian Wind Win Big at the Downs
In order to have a successful racing season, a race track has to have outstanding horses and this year, there was more than a handful of great equine talent at Assiniboia Downs. The most successful were two-year-old Melisandre and three-year-old Mongolian Wind. Undefeated Melisandre, a gorgeous chestnut filly, bred in Russell, Man., by Cam Ziprick at Ziprick Thoroughbreds with Charles Fouillard, won a Maiden Special Weight on July 22, cruised to victory in the Debutante Stakes on Aug. 4, won the CTHS Sales Stakes on Aug. 25, and on the final night of the year, led from post-to-wire in the Buffalo Stakes. Mongolian Wind is a three-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding owned by Andrew Stronach that won the 72nd running of the Manitoba Derby and then won the 63rd running of the Gold Cup. Oh, and there were more. To make sure SportsLife was on top of all the action, we sent photographers James Carey Lauder and Rusty Barton out to record the track’s top competitors. l
Mongolian Wind edges Mr. Unusual by a nose to win the Manitoba Derby
Jockey Stanley Chadee Jr. celebrates victory on Miss Imperial in the Canada Day stakes
Stanley Chadee Jr. and Marselan win the Phil Kives Stakes
