Groom Meadow MacLean in trainer Mike Taphorn’s barn with double stakes-winner Mighty Mikee.
By G.S. Thompson
The frozen water bucket brigade is back at Assiniboia Downs, and they couldn’t be happier about it.
That includes Meadow MacLean, the 23-year-old Winnipeg-born groom found in trainer Mike Taphorn’s shedrow on a frigid early morning, tending to horses she knows by personality as well as name. Buckets freezing or not, it probably beats the online accounting classes she’s been taking over the winter.
This is MacLean’s fifth year at the track and her third with Taphorn. Already in the barn is stakes winner Mighty Mikee, who has strong opinions about personal space, specifically that there shouldn’t be any.
“He’s very curious,” said MacLean. “And very sweet. He likes to be in your face all the time.”
MacLean grew up in Winnipeg and got her first horse about six years ago. She went through the Manitoba HBPA’s Groom School, spent her first two years at another barn, and then landed with Taphorn. Ask her what her favourite part of the job is and she doesn’t hesitate.
“Seeing the same horses every single day, taking care of them,” said MacLean. “It’s nice having their trust. And then when you get to see them do well and run well, it just…”
She didn’t need to finish the sentence.
Last year MacLean claimed Silver Jaguar, her first racehorse as an owner. He won for her, paid his way, and she’s already thinking about her next claim this season.
A happy Meadow MacLean leads her horse Silver Jaguar out of the winner’s circle after his victory on September 23 last year.
Taphorn, 46, spent his winter in Saskatchewan working with warmbloods in heated barns. He comes back to the 2025 season on the strength of a solid year: 15 wins from 101 starts, with 26 seconds, 10 thirds, and $215,784 in purse earnings. This year he’s aiming for around 20 horses, which include up to eight two-year-olds.
The headliner is Mighty Mikee, the Manitoba-bred three-year-old who arrived in Taphorn’s barn with a strong record. Conditioned last year by Devon Gittens, who is now plying is trade at Woodbine and Aqueduct, Mighty Mikee won the CTHS Sales Stakes and the Buffalo Stakes at Assiniboia Downs last year, and finished a close second in the Osiris Stakes for owners Larry Faloon, McLaren Racing, and Anne Champion.
He’s not a big horse, and Taphorn will be the first to tell you that, but he’s compact, powerful, and clearly loves his job. Now under Taphorn’s care heading into his three-year-old season, he’s one of the horses to watch in 2026.
Joining Mighty Mikee in the barn is fellow stakes winner Mr. Splash, along with a pair of promising two-year-olds, including a New York-bred picked up in a sale there, and a well-regarded chestnut due to ship in any day.
Notably absent this year is Burrow Down, who was among the best mares racing at Assiniboia Downs in 2024. Trained by Taphorn for owner Gerald Babchishin, Burrow Down won the Manitoba Matron Stakes and the Canada Stakes before connections decided to send her to Kentucky to be bred. It was the right call for a seven-year-old mare with her stellar record, but she will be missed around the barn.
Taphorn isn’t the only trainer who came in early. Wendy Anderson, Jared Brown, Steve Gaskin, Tom Gardipy Jr., and Craig Smith have also moved horses onto the grounds, giving the backstretch the feel of a community again after a long winter. It’s a small but serious group.
For now, horses at the Downs are on the Equicizer and jogging the shedrow under tack, with the training track expected to open shortly.
Getting on horses for Taphorn is jockey Neville Stephenson, one of only two jockeys currently on the grounds, the other being Arthur Budhu. Stephenson, originally from Jamaica, was a four-time leading rider at Marquis Downs in Saskatchewan before coming to Assiniboia Downs, where he’s now in his sixth season. Being here ahead of the crowd means first crack at mounts when live racing begins on Tuesday, May 12.
“Just have to work,” said Stephenson.