The 65th live racing season at Assiniboia Downs kicks off on Victoria Day, Monday, May 23, 2022, and who isn’t looking forward to that after this week’s blizzard! The 50-day meeting will run through to September 14 and operate on the same Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday schedule as last year, with first post being 7:30 p.m.
There will be 32 stakes races in 2022, highlighted by new purse increases in the $50,000 Escape Clause Stakes for fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, and the $50,000 Manitoba Mile for 3-year-olds and up, both of which are scheduled to run on Terry Fox Day, Monday August 1, along with the $100,000 Manitoba Derby. See full 2022 ASD Stakes Schedule here.
Aside from the stakes, horse people at ASD will be competing for purses that start at $8,500 for $1,500 claiming races to $20,000 for open allowance races, plus the lucrative bonuses available for Manitoba-bred horses. The first ASD Condition Book of 2022 is posted here, along with a link to the ASD 2022 Stall Application. And out-of-town horse people should definitely check out the 2022 Shipping Incentive Program.
Long gone are the days when you could buy a horse for $500 and climb the ladder scooping riches, but the strong purse structure at ASD keeps us looking, and memories of John Mulligan claiming Chart Line for $2,500 and winning five races on his way up to a run in the 1985 Gold Cup will never fade. Maybe you could do it now for $1,500. Why not?
If you really want to shoot for the stars, think about Canonero II, the horse that was purchased for $1,200 at auction and went on to win the 1971 Kentucky Derby. Or Dust Commander, who won the Derby the year before after being purchased for $6,500. Or Seattle Slew, who sold for $12,500 and won the 1977 Triple Crown. And who could forget Mine That Bird, who was originally purchased for just $9,500 before posting a spectacular upset in the 2009 Kentucky Derby and later had the must-watch movie 50-1 made about him.
Closer to home, 2021 Manitoba Derby winner, Uncharacteristic (Texas Wildcatter) was claimed for just $8,000 and also won the Canadian Derby (G3) while earning over $120,000. And it’s not out of the question that one of our local horses, Diamond Digger or Lucky Chuckee, could win the 2022 Manitoba Derby.
Undefeated as a 2-year-old, Diamond Digger (Violence-Prayer Bell by Pulpit) was purchased for just $2,000 at auction and impressively won the 2021 Graduation Stakes, Osiris Stakes and Winnipeg Futurity for trainer Mike Nault and The Young and the Rest of Us Stable, while earning $58,835 USD. He could be any kind. As could undefeated Manitoba-bred Lucky Chuckee.
Lucky Chuckee (Bird Song) was bid up to only $5,000 in the 2020 Manitoba CTHS Yearling Sale before being bought back by breeder Larry Falloon, but the big handsome homebred by Bird Song-Blazing Sasha by Langfuhr went on to win the $35,000 CTHS Sales Stakes by 9 ¼-lengths and the $35,000 Buffalo Stakes by 19 ¼-lengths for Falloon and his ownership partners Anne Champion and trainer Shelley Brown.
Manitoba breeders have really stepped up their game over the past few years and there are some very good horses growing up in our own backyard.
Dream time.
~ courtesy Inside Track Newsletter
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