2-Year-Old Stars Impress in Winnipeg Futurity and Buffalo Stakes, Bynoe and Keplin Take Big Leads Into Final Week

Omaha Warrior wins the $50,000 Winnipeg Futurity on Tuesday at ASD. Antonio Whitehall up. (Jason Halstead / Assiniboia Photo)

By G.S. Thompson

A pair of 2-year-olds came up with huge performances in the Winnipeg Futurity and Buffalo Stakes, and jockey Damario Bynoe scored a 4-bagger on Wednesday evening to take a 10-win lead over Antonio Whitehall into the final two days of live racing next week at ASD.

Whitehall did his best to make up some ground on Bynoe on Tuesday night, scoring a hat trick to Bynoe’s double, but Bynoe came back strong on Wednesday with a 4-win night to all but put the 2025 jockey title away.

Whitehall, a three-time leading rider at the Downs, can take some solace in the fact that he got the big money in the $50,000 Winnipeg Futurity on Tuesday aboard Gary Danelson and Bonnie McCrory’s Omaha Warrior for trainer Jared Brown. Whitehall gave Omaha Warrior a perfect trip, stalking a duel between favourite Wecanonlyimagine and second choice Tap the Parlay, and came with a powerful rally to take over at the sixteenth pole and draw off to win by 4 ¼-lengths over his stablemate Wecanonlyimagine, providing Brown with a 1-2 finish in the race.

A $20,000 purchase for Danelson and McCrory at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale by Brown, Omaha Warrior also won the Graduation Stakes at ASD earlier in the season. The son of Omaha Beach-Arcina by Arch improved his career record to 2-0-1 from four starts with his win in the Futurity, for earnings of US$47,471. It was a sentimental win for Danelson, the all-time leading trainer at the Downs, who is no longer training. He’s facing some health issues now at the age of 88, and it felt so good to see him in the winner’s circle with a big smile.

Danelson and McCrory’s big win also occurred on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and all the Downs staffers wore orange shirts in a show of respect and remembrance.

Downs CEO Darren Dunn highlighted the importance of this recognition: “The participation of First Nations in our racing program is so incredibly important to Assiniboia Downs. We are so proud of the many success stories that have been created here and their contributions to the sport, which includes 10 consecutive leading trainer titles won by an indigenous person and in 2025 now tracking strongly for 11 with the near insurmountable lead that trainer Steve Keplin Jr. has.”

On Wednesday evening, fans were treated to another powerhouse performance from Manitoba-bred 2-year-old Mighty Mikee in the $40,000 Buffalo Stakes, courtesy of trainer Devon Gittens. The grey gelding by Mitole-Piccadilly Line by Air Force Blue set a fast pace early in the one-mile race and simply romped away in the stretch under no urging from jockey Shavon Belle to notch the largest winning margin of the day in North America at 17 ¼-lengths.

It was the second stakes win for Mighty Mikee, who had earlier won the CTHS Sales Stakes. Bred by Larry Falloon and owned by a partnership that includes Falloon, Anne Champion, and Mclaren Racing, Mighty Mikee was the sales topper at $32,000 in the 2024 Manitoba CTHS Yearling Sale, and he has easily paid for himself with earnings of  US$50,974 from a record of 3-1-0 in four starts.

Jockey Damario Bynoe is riding flawlessly as we enter the final two days of the live racing season, and he has all but won his first riding title in North America. The same goes for trainer Steve Keplin, Jr. who has a commanding seven-win lead heading into next week.

The 2025 live racing season at Assiniboia Downs is coming to a thrilling close, and the wagering excitement has reached a fever pitch, with the ASD Jackpot Pick 5 pool now sitting at $282,859. If there are no single winning tickets on the Pick 5 next Tuesday, the pool should be gargantuan for the mandatory payout on the final day of the meeting, Wednesday, October 8.

Get your wheelbarrows ready!