Jason Homer Striking with Assiniboia Longshots

Most people consider trainer stats and percentages when they’re handicapping a race, but numbers never tell the full story.

One sign of a better-than-average trainer is when horses give their best every time they’re in a race. This requires not only physical preparation, but also mental conditioning. The best trainers instill a will to win in their horses. There’s also an art to preparing a horse to win first-time out.

Trainer Jason Homer covered all the above this week when he turned loose two first-time starters, Misspennymischief (8-1, by Honest Mischief) and Sum Up the Silver (26-1), to finish 1-2 in the second race on Tuesday. The Homer Thoroughbreds exactor paid over $400. And just to prove it wasn’t a fluke, he came right back and did it even better in the sixth race on Wednesday.

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Homer saddled first-time starter Acquire (2-1, by Conveyance) to win the sixth on Wednesday, while his Preachers Secret (4-1) and Judge Oliver (10-1) finished second and third. The key thing to note is that all five of his horses were fit enough to get the distance, all gave their very best, and all were making their first starts of the year. It really doesn’t get any better than that in the training game.

Well done Mr. Homer!

Other notable trainer performances included those of Keith Pedersen, Judy Hunter, Carl Anderson, and Doug Mustard. Pedersen, a former Hastings Park trainer, won his first local race in the fourth on Tuesday with I’m in Control ($14.60). Judy Hunter won the fifth race on Wednesday with Dreamin Out Loud ($14.90). Carl Anderson won the second race on Wednesday with Mystic Song ($19.40). And Doug Mustard won the fourth race on Wednesday with first-time starter My Kinda Delite ($4.50). All four horses were making their first starts of the year.

Former Hastings Park trainer Keith Pedersen, shown here giving a high five to jockey Sven Balroop, won his first race of the season at ASD on Tuesday with I’m in Control. (Jason Halstead / Assiniboia Photo)

In the horse department, the most talented winner of the week was Manitoba Derby hopeful Prime Suspect, who romped for the second time in a row for trainer Steve Keplin, Jr., in the sixth race on Tuesday. Sven Balroop was in the saddle for Tuesday’s win, Keplin’s second of the week, and also scored a hat trick on the card.

Keplin’s pair of wins gave him seven on the season, putting him three behind Jerry Gourneau, who won three races, including the Jack Robertson Memorial, to up his season-leading total to 10.

Balroop’s hat trick put him in a tie for the lead in the jockey standings with the underrated Javaniel Patterson, each with seven victories. Patterson won a pair of races on the week. Shavon Townsend scored a hat trick, winning on three of the horses that were making their first starts of the year, to move into a tie for fourth in the standings with Dario Dalrymple. Antonio Whitehall remains alone in third with six wins.

And good news for the fans, with the first Monday night of racing on tap for next week. Eight of this week’s 14 winners paid double digits.

The longshots are starting to roll!