For the first time in Assiniboia Downs’ 50-year history, fans will be given the opportunity to invade the highly restricted racetrack after the races Sunday, Aug. 3.
The public will be able to walk, jump, hop and run on the surface and just get the feel of a place that has generated countless thrills in some 200,000 races that have been run over the track since 1958. They’ll even be able to scoop a sample of the track as a souvenir of their “invasion.”
“We know being out on the track has a very special sensation,” said operations manager and track announcer Darren Dunn, “and what better time to share that experience with our many friends and fans than on Derby weekend.”
Jockeys will also be available to autograph a group picture of themselves, pose for individual pictures and answer questions. Their riding equipment, too, will be available for inspection, including their saddle which people are often surprised to see bears no resemblance to their perception of a proper riding saddle.
The “invasion” comes the day before the biggest day in Manitoba racing: the running of the $100,000 Manitoba Lotteries Derby and three major undercard stakes races worth $130,000 in purse money all to be run on holiday Monday, Aug. 4.
Sunday, the day of the track invasion, is also expected to feature a highly-anticipated simulcast race: Big Brown, the horse that flopped in the Belmont Stakes last month, is expected to return to racing in the Haskell Invitational from Monmouth Park in New Jersey. That race will be run on TV monitors throughout the Downs between live races.
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