Excitement Builds for 74th Manitoba Derby

Building on this year’s upbeat theme “It’s time to horse around again,” Assiniboia Downs is pulling out all stops in its 74th Manitoba Derby Monday, August 1, to erase the haunting memories of the past two COVID-limited Derbies.

The 2020 Derby was other-worldly. The tarmac was eerily empty except for a solitary bench occupied by a Winnipeg Free Press reporter watching the post parade. The grandstand was dark and empty. There was an improvement last year, with the tarmac being open in limited fashion to those who could prove they were double-vaxxed, but the grandstand remained closed.

A solitary spectator, a reporter, watches the post parade for the 2020 Manitoba Derby. (Ivan Bigg photo)

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No such limitations this year. Everything is wide open including face-painting, a bouncy gym and other entertainment for kids, but the best thing for the Winnipeg track is that its signature race, the $100,000 Manitoba Derby, is filled with intrigue and has the makings of being one of the most exciting Derbies in years. Why?

Robertino Diodoro, the one-time Calgary hockey player who rose to continent-wide prominence as a trainer, seems determined to win the Derby for the fourth time. Three of the eight starters in the race are his: Clancy’s Pistol at 6-1, Great Escape at 2-1 and Red Knobs at 5-1. After winning the Derby in 2016 with Inside Straight, in 2018 with Sky Promise and in 2019 with Oil Money, he and has entourage were all set to enter the winner’s circle last year with 1-5 Myopic, only to be denied by Vancouver trainer Robert VanOverschot’s 5-1 Uncharacteristic in the closing strides of the 1 1/.8-mile race. Shipping in three horses this year makes it obvious he wants to make up for that miss.
But last year’s leading ASD trainer, Jerry Gourneau, whose barn is loaded with hard-knocking horses owned by a former Texas auto racer, Henry S. Witt, Jr., has two entrants because he is equally determined to score the biggest prize for his highly supportive owner. He already can boast that his horse, Prayforpeace, is the morning-line favourite at 7-5 because he crushed his rivals in the Derby Trial. Besides that, the horse’s name is certainly appropriate for today’s world — and, hey, he’s a grey.
“Not so fast” is the vibe emanating from the barn of Andy Stronach, the son of the famous track-owning father and sister. Although Stronach won the Derby in 2020 with Mongolian Wind, COVID quietness deprived him of the exhilarating fanfare that usually accompanies a victory, so he’d like to fill that hole with a victory this year with Dimmi Quando, despite the horse being a 30-1 outsider.

The main event, which is race 6 on the card, should be a big draw, but there’s also a thoughtful undercard and lucrative betting opportunities:

Will there be quiet reflection and perhaps a tear or two shed as the memory of the late well-liked Manitoba Jockey Club president Harvey Warner is evoked by the newly-named Harvey Warner Manitoba Mile Stakes? The mention of his name at Thursday’s Derby news conference and post-position draw prompted respectful applause.
Will fans revel in the Escape Clause Stakes that recognizes Manitoba’s greatest-ever racehorse who now is producing pricey foals in Japan?
Will the track exceed its previous record-setting Derby Day handle of $2.54 million (2021).
Will the track set a wagering record in the mandatory payoff of the Jackpot pick-5 in the last five races of the eight-race card? The previous record was $2.68 million on July 6, 2020.
How big will the pick-4 pool get as the track offers its first-ever $100,000 pool guarantee?

Post time on holiday Monday is 7:30 p.m.