MANITOBA DERBY DAY (cont'd)

Mongolian Wind edges Mr. Unusual after a stirring stretch duel (Jason Halstead photo)

Owner Andy Stronach celebrates (Jason Halstead photo)

WHY THE DAY WAS WEIRD  

That was pretty obvious, wasn’t it? Never before has the Derby been run at night and never with spectators banned from the outdoor grandstand and tarmac. No people. No benches. No hoopla.

My walk across the empty, dark, eerily-still tarmac to take pictures of the race and post-race activities in the Winner’s Circle was surreal. Were these some of the same emotions felt by Neil Armstrong when he stepped onto the moon in 1969? Only one person was there--sitting quietly on a bench--Free Press reporter Jason Bell (see top of Insider). Stephen King could probably write an entire thriller based on those tarmac vibes alone.

WHY DERBY DAY WAS WONDERFUL

• Wagering on the eight-race card from bettors around the world soared to a Derby Day record of $2.16 million. The mandatory Super Hi-5 payout was a hefty $16,000 for a 20-cent ticket. (I’m still kicking myself for not boxing the seven horses I predicted could be part of the winning tickets.)
  
  
• The Derby race itself was exciting and unpredictable. A duel down the stretch between 7-1 Mongolian Wind (trained by Wade Eno, owned by Mongolian Stable & Andy Stronach, ridden by Wilmer Galviz) and 15-1 Mr. Unusual (trained by Jerry Gourneau, owned by Henry S. Witt Jr., ridden by Richard Mangalee) was needed to settle the score, with Mongolian getting a head’s edge.
  
  
• ASD will get a reputation boost because the owner of the Derby-winning horse, Andy Stronach, says he plans to enter the colt in the third leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, in October. Having Assiniboia Downs mentioned in the same breath as the Preakness Stakes? Wow.
  
  
• Winning jockey Wilmer Galviz got a seconditis monkey off his back. Last year, he was third in the jockey standings at Century Mile in Edmonton but this year at ASD he was 32-1-10-1 coming into the Derby. Winning a biggie had to be a morale-booster. He came right back to win the Graduation Stakes on Wednesday with 9-1 Freezing Jimmy.

EYE ON LIVE (cont'd)

Another must-watch stakes upcoming on Wednesday
Will third start off a layoff be the charm for Hidden Grace?

Trainers (left to right) Jerry Gourneau, Brent Hrymak and Murray Duncan face off in Wednesday’s Ericka’s Lass Stakes

Will her third race off a layoff be the charm for 4-year-old filly Hidden Grace who was unbeaten in nine races as a 2-year-old and 3-year-old but has had two second-place finishes this year? If she wants to earn the mantle as a special filly, ready to follow in the hoofprints of Escape Clause, she pretty much needs to win the Ericka’s Lass Stakes on Wednesday.

In her last race, she was beaten by hot-as-a-pistol Jerry Gourneau’s 40-1 Louisiana invader Labhay although she edged out her stablemate, Miss Imperial, who beat her in her first race of the season. Both have been nominated to the race for which entries will be taken tomorrow.

But, as they say in TV infomercials, there’s more! The cagey Gourneau has nominated another 4-year-old filly. Cypress Point, claimed for $20,000 from a Texas race she won. By bringing in a second horse, the ever-dangerous Gourneau (who almost won the Manitoba Derby with 15-1 Mr. Unusual) will likely be looking for a 1-2 finish in the Ericka’s Lass to go along with his 1-2-3 finish by the boys in the Manitoba Mile.

But, hey, there’s still more! Trainer Brent Hrymak has nominated impressive 3-year-old Manitoba Oaks winner, Kickalittlebooty, as well.

Who will the oddsmaker--ASD racing secretary Dustin Davis--make the favourite? That in itself is a head-scratcher. Then the bigger question will be: where will your money settle? Needless to say, the race should be a barn-burner.

WHY IS STAKES CALLED THE ERICKA’S LASS? In the continuing bid by ASD to honour popular horses from ASD’s past, the Ericka’s Lass celebrates a filly/mare who, from 2003-2006 either won or was close to winning major stakes for female horses. Trained by Emile Corbel and owned by Empire Stables, her wins included the Debutante, Chantilly, Assiniboia Oaks, La Verendrye and Winnipeg Sun. And in a foray to Stampede Park in 2004 she beat her seven Alberta 3-year-old rivals to capture the $40K Mount Royal Handicap

HOTTIES OF THE WEEK (Mon-Wed)

Hottest jockey: Antonio Whitehall (6 wins)
Hottest trainer: Jerry Gourneau (5 wins)
Biggest longshot: Hellocountrybumkin $27.30  (Race 2 Monday)
Stakes champions: Mongolian Wind (Manitoba Derby), Melisandre (Debutante), Freezing Jimmy (Graduation)
Upcoming stakes: Ericka’s Lass (Wednesday)
Carryovers: $400,632 in the Jackpot pick-5; $9,816 in the Super Hi-5

THE (SHORTENING) ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY

Thank you, Thousand Words!
My Derby pick wins Del Mar stakes, beating 1-5 Honor A.P and Cezanne

Happiness is -- Thousand Words beating Honor A. P. in Shared Belief Stakes (Alex Evers/Eclipse Sportswire photo)

Thank you, Thousand Words, for throwing more than crumbs my way (as I sought in last week’s Insider) by winning the Shared Belief Stakes last Saturday at Del Mar at odds of 9-1--beating 1-5 Honor A. P. and 5-2 Cezanne--to keep my $203 in Future Wagers alive for your entry into the Kentucky Derby. If you go all the way, you could pad my pocket with about $8,500.

What’s more, Thousand Words, it’s great to see you set a personal Equibase speed of 111 in the victory, tying the E speed of 2018 Triple Crown winner, Justify. (Justify’s E speed figures were 112, 111, 112 for the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes respectively.)

I had hoped you would set the early pace as you did as a 2-year-old in the Los Alamitos Futurity and that’s exactly what you did, then kicked your speed into another gear at the top of the stretch to hold off your rivals. Your trainer, Bob Baffert, said the “real” you showed up and commented that even your coat looks different. That’s what I was banking on when I bought my Future Wagers on you with odds ranging up to 65-1.

If nothing else, you already gave me a thrill with your effort in the Shared Belief and at least partly silenced naysayers who take pleasure in pooh-poohing Bigg’s opinions. Now please stay sound and enjoy your workouts leading to the first Saturday in September. Then we’ll win that thing together, okay?

YOU NAMED ME WHAT? Yourfuturehusband. Really? Is this 3-year-old Elusive Quality/ Beautyandthebeast filly racing at Woodbine another “message” horse? She’s only managed four up-the-track finishes. Is that a relationship omen? You never know. The Jockey Club that registers horse names should require registrants to supply the reason for a horse name so curious players can visit a site to get the background. Would be quite entertaining in some cases, don’t you think?

THE WEEK THAT WAS

Melisandre wins Debutante (Jason Halstead photo)

$25,000 FILLY WINS DEBUTANTE; $2,700 GELDING WINS GRADUATION: The two baby stakes this week were a study in contrasts. Melisandre, the Manitoba-bred purchased by Barry Arnason for $25,000 in last summer’s yearling sale, did what she was expected to do on Tuesday in handily winning the Debutante Stakes ($3.90) since she is, after all, a full sister to Hidden Grace who won nine stakes races.

But Marvin Buffalo had to be more than excited Wednesday when the Kentucky-bred he bought for a mere $2,700 U.S. last fall in Arizona, Freezing Jimmy, won the Graduation Stakes on Wednesday ($20.40). Congrats to the owners of both horses. Of course, the difference is Melisandre has more race opportunities and bonuses because of her Manitoba breeding.

ANDY STRONACH REVEALS WHERE RAINBOW PICK-6 IDEA CAME FROM: The popular wager to take down big money for a small wager--the Rainbow pick-6 and its offshoots--originated in Puerto Rico, Andy Stronach told The Insider in an interview after his Mongolian Wind won the Manitoba Derby. Asked who at the Stronach-owned Gulfstream started the 20-cent bet, he said management noticed a $43 million pool had built up at Puerto Rico’s race track about 10 years ago and introduced the wager at Gulfstream. Players win the whole pool--which grows daily when not won--when there’s a single correct ticket with all six winners.

Group play will continue Saturday and Tuesday

CHAOS HORSE ONCE AGAIN KILLS “I WON BIGGER” TICKETS: Two weeks in a row, Saturday’s “I won bigger” group played “all” horses in pick-5 legs that had a chaos horse (a 44-1 improbable horse won the fourth leg this past Saturday). The problem has been that the group missed another leg that would have brought home the bacon. Yes, it’s repetitive and frustrating but the racing gods can’t continue to work their mischief, can they?

We’ll be back at the grind this Saturday at 10:30 a.m. on the Clubhouse plaza to try to get the best of them--finally. And there will be a special workshop Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. to handicap and play the mandatory payout Jackpot pick-5 at the Downs with an anticipated pool expected to exceed $2 million if not won on Monday.

DO 2-YEAR-OLDS REALLY NEED LASIX? While 2-year-olds racing in Maryland cannot now be administered Lasix within 48 hours of a race, veterinarians will take part in a study to determine the incidence of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhaging (bleeding) in the babies. This kind of data is obviously important as the discussion over Lasix use continues.