Lance Giesbrecht and Gordon Christoff’s WESTERN WARRIOR (Essential Quality) made a quick move to grab the lead into the stretch run of the 78th Manitoba Derby at Assiniboia Downs on August 2 and it proved to be the winning move. Under shrewd handling by jockey Dane Nelson, Western Warrior got just enough jump on his rivals to hold off a closing Quarry to win the $126,000 Derby by a nose. Western Warrior, the morning line favourite in the Derby, ended up at 8-to-1. He is trained by Dino Condilenios, who admitted the last strides of the Derby made him nervous.
“I started celebrating way too early,” said Condilenios when reached by Canadian Thoroughbred. “Dane gave him a super ride. The horse had been training great, but I had to miss a couple of works due to all the rain we’ve had here in Edmonton, so was praying I had him tight enough.”
A two-time leading trainer in British Columbia at Hastings Racecourse, Condilenios moved to Alberta two years ago when the future of racing in B.C. came into question. Hastings closed late last year.
Western Warrior, a Kentucky-bred who was racing for breeder Tracy Farmer, had a very modest two-year-old campaign, but had a three-race winning streak at Oaklawn Park for Farmer and trainer Mark Casse. The streak began in a $35,000 maiden claiming race and ended with a seven-length win at the $62,500 optional level. He then finished fourth in the $200,000 Bath House Row Stakes.
“We tried buying him after his stakes try at Oaklawn, but we couldn’t quite get a deal done,” said Condilenios. Giesbrecht and Christoff, both of whom have been in racing and breeding in western Canada for decades, got the chance to buy him after he was fifth in an optional claiming race at Churchill Downs on May 31.
Over a slow Assiniboia surface on Derby night and in front of a full house, Western Warrior was always well-placed by Nelson behind pace fractions of 25.65, 49.21 and 1:13.58. The pace was contested between Elston Gunn, Prime Suspect and Derby favourite Forty Twenty, the latest Derby entrant for trainer Robertino Diodoro, a four-time winner of the race.
Both Quarry, under Demario Bynoe, and Western Warrior made moves, the former while wide, while the pace runners began to slip back. Western Warrior took an inside lane and lasted for the win while Quarry, at 27-to-1, was a clear second, with Gethsemane third. The time for the 1 1/8 miles was 1:54.02.
Western Warrior, a grey like his sire, is from the Warrior’s Reward mare Trophy Girl, who won two of seven races and $30,511. Trophy Girl is a half-sister to Jamiaca Handicap (G1) winner King David and stakes winner Bertsgoldenmissile.
Trophy Girl’s first foal is Blazing Sevens, who won the 2022 Champagne Stakes (G1) and earned over $998,000.
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Sadly, Forty Twenty, who began to fade sharply late on the turn of the Derby, broke down and was euthanized. The son of Candy Ride (Arg), bred and owned by Randy Howg, is a half-brother to 2025 Canadian Derby winner Take Charge Tom, who won the Manitoba Derby last year, only to be disqualified. Take Charge Tom has not had a race or workout since he was vanned off from the Oklahoma Derby outing last September.
Earlier on this year’s Manitoba Derby card, the Diodoro runner Go Go Boss, who won the Manitoba Mile easily, was disqualified for interference. The Diodoro team did have reason to celebrate earlier in the night when Dontgiveupthefight (Jimmy Creed) won the Escape Clause Stakes.
Diodoro was recently in the news when he had half a dozen positive tests from this past spring ‘stacked’ into one $500 fine; read more here.
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