Gourneau Soars to Lead in Trainer Standings, Wins Five of Six Races on Wednesday

Leading trainer Jerry Gourneau was all smiles after scoring a natural hat trick in the first three races on Wednesday. He went on to win five of the six races on the card. (Jason Halstead / Assiniboia Photo)

By G.S. Thompson

Trainer Jerry Gourneau served notice on Wednesday that he wants his sixth training title, winning an amazing five of the six races to power to the lead in the trainer standings, while jockeys Dario Dalrymple and Javaniel Patterson each scored hat tricks to signal they’re also here to win.

Gourneau also won a race on Tuesday to bring his total for the week to six victories, five of them for perennial leading owner  Henry S. Witt, Jr., and one for former trainer Lee Delaronde. And most of Gourneau’s winners paid decently, which has often been the case with him over the years.

On Tuesday, Gourneau won the third race with Thorn Crown ($7.40) and Dario Dalrymple, who was also in the saddle for Gourneau’s next two winners. On Wednesday, Gourneau and Dalrymple won the first race with Layla’s Song ($4.40) and the second with Brooklyn Alley Cat ($11.70). Gourneau then won the third race with Girl From de Bayo ($4.50) with Javaniel Patterson in the irons, the fourth with Lexington River ($10.30) and Renaldo Cumberbatch, and the sixth race with Prints Money ($6.80), Sven Balroop up.

Gourneau had no chance to win the fifth race on Wednesday’s card, as he had no horse in that race. If so, he might have swept the card. Has that ever been done here? Not that we know of.

What we do know, thanks to ASD historian Bob Gates, is that Gourneau’s five wins on a card ties the record set by Gilbert Ducharme on October 9, 1985 on a 10-race card, which was also equalled by Ardell Sayler on May 10, 2014 on an 8-race card.

Congratulations, Mr. Gourneau! Well done!

Gourneau’s six winners gave him seven for the meeting and put him two ahead of Steve Keplin, Jr. (5), followed by Wendy Anderson (3), Lorne Fraser (2), and Mike Nault (2). Anderson continued her solid start to the season with a win in the first race on Tuesday with She’s So Croatian ($3.60)  and Javaniel Patterson, while Mike Nault turned loose Tap the Parlay ($3.50) to wire her field impressively in her first start of the year, also with Patterson.

Lorne Fraser teamed up with current leading rider Antonio Whitehall to win the fifth race on Tuesday with Ghost Hero ($5.60) and the fifth on Wednesday with Spin the Breeze ($9.80), helping Whitehall to stay on top in the standings with six wins. Patterson jumped quickly into second spot in the standings with his hat trick, giving him five wins on the season, followed by Sven Balroop (4) and Dario Dalrymple (3), who also had a hat trick on the week.

Other notable winners included Finding Ways ($5.30), who won the fourth race on Tuesday, giving his former Hastings Park connections trainer Robert Maybin and jockey Christopher Mamdeen their first wins of the meeting. There will be more to come from the trainers who shipped here from B.C. They are just starting to get rolling and loving it here.

Along with Tap the Parlay, another debut run worth watching again is that of Aaron’s Spirit in the sixth race on Wednesday. The 6-year-old gelding forced the pace four-wide, opened up into the stretch, and gave his best for trainer Judy Hunter before tiring to finish second. It was just one of those performances that caught your eye. Nice work, Judy!

Also of note were the payoffs on Wednesday. Despite the absence of any real longshots, the $1 Pick 4 paid $415.95, the 20-cent Pick 5 Jackpot paid $844.73, and the $1 Classic Hi-5 paid $3,519.85.

Well worth playing at those prices!