Wouf de Douf gets a pat from owner Bob Nokes after winning 7th race on Wednesday.
by George
If you needed an indication of where live racing at Assiniboia Downs was headed, Wednesday night offered some clues. People don’t invest money in this game unless they think there’s a future, and they stepped up on Wednesday evening with four claims.
In the second race, favourite Racing Cajun finished fourth and was claimed for $2,500 by trainer Russell Tourangeau for owner Darlene Masney. In the third race, race winner and favourite Little Brown Guy was claimed for $3,500 by trainer Tom Gardipy Jr. for Sierra Stable.
In the sixth, race winner Lovely Sunrise was claimed for $3,500 by trainer Carl Anderson for Well-Being Stable. And in the seventh and final race on the card, Canterbury ship-in Cleardofallcharges was haltered for $5,000 by trainer Marvin Buffalo for himself and his wife Debbie.
Four claims in one evening of racing certainly isn’t a record, but it does reflect positively on the overall health of the industry, especially when it follows a positive CTHS Manitoba Yearling Sale in which both prices and percentage of yearlings sold were up.
Trainer Jodi Radul scored a hat trick on the evening, winning the first race with Shugie ($4.30); the fifth with Smartdressed Woman ($12.20); and the seventh with Wouf de Douf ($12.20). Carl Anderson won a pair of races, taking the third with Little Brown Guy ($5.10) and the fourth with Prince Raphael ($3.40), while singles went to William Tourangeau, who won the second race with Metallic Mist ($4.60), and Irene Britton, who won the sixth with Lovely Sunrise ($10.20).
Jockeys Chavion Chow, Travis Cunningham and Christopher Husbands each rode a pair of winners, and Adolfo Morales picked up the remaining win on the card. Husbands (50 wins) continued to gain ground on leading rider Paul Nolan (56) and we could be set for a real battle between these two late in the meet. Adolfo Morales (42) sits alone in third spot in the jockey standings. Omar Walker (26) and Jennifer Reid (23) round out the top five in the standings.
The $2 Pick-4 paid $205.50 based on winners that returned $3.40, $12.20, $10.20 and $5.80 in races 4-7. The best payouts of the night were the $2 Superfectas in races six and seven, which paid $1,934.20 and $2,619.30 respectively. The seventh race Superfecta payout was a bit of surprise, considering the race was won by favourite Wouf de Douf ($5.80).
The big payout in the last race was likely triggered by third-place finisher Smarter Than Momma, who went off at overlay odds of 51-1 with Rumesh Selman aboard for trainer Jerry Gourneau.
The horse was also smarter than we were.
Next Post Time for Live Racing: 7 p.m. Friday, August 29, 2014